The third time was charming

Any concerns that the third meeting between Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and Trinity Christian might be a battle went away in the second quarter. Twenty straight points gave the Hawks a convincing half time lead and they continued to pull away for a 77-42 win on Feb. 15 in Hartley.

Three-point shooting kept the Tigers in contention during the early minutes of the 1A district quarterfinal game and also helped them rally from a nine-point deficit to make the score 20-15.

That would be as close as Trinity Christian would get. The Hawks mixed strong inside play with three-point shooting over the next six minutes to complete a 20-0 run. Trinity Christian made two free throws and a three-pointer to make the half time score 45-20.

"We really shut them down defensively in the second quarter," said Hawk coach Mark Petersen.

The Hawks extended the lead to 35 points in the third quarter and to 41 in the final minutes, giving them their largest margin of victory in the season sweep of the Tigers.

"It was an all-around good performance," Petersen noted. "We played well defensively, and were patient on offense and got good looks at the basket."

H-M-S (13-9) had four players score in double figures, shot 49.2 percent from the floor and recorded 21 assists on 30 made field goals.

Lance Berends scored 19 points, Sam Heyn scored 11, and Ben Haack and Kayl Jacobsma each scored 10. Jordan Ortega added nine points, DJ Doyle scored six and Kooper Ebel added five. Berends contributed five assists, Mason Brinkman had four and Ebel had three.

The Hawks were dominating on the glass, out-rebounding the Tigers by a 42-22 margin. Berends grabbed 14 rebounds, Jacobsma had six, and Haack and Heyn each had five.

Ethan Kooima scored 11 points to lead Trinity Christian (5-17) in its final game.