Second-half explosion

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn felt pretty good about its situation heading into half time of its game with Boyden-Hull. The Hawks led the No. 2-ranked boys' team in Class 2A for much of the first half and only trailed by two at the break.

But everything changed in the second half as the Comets exploded for 56 points – including 37 in the final quarter – while shutting down H-M-S to run away with a 96-56 win on Jan. 27 in Hartley.

H-M-S led 10-2 two minutes into the game and by seven with two minutes left in the first quarter. Boyden-Hull scored eight straight points to go in front, 20-19. The Hawks answered with an 8-2 run to go ahead by five. After battling back and forth, a 38-37 lead late in the second quarter was the Hawks' last. Boyden-Hull led 40-38 at half time.

"We came out and competed really hard in the first half. We were playing relaxed and confident. Our energy was good. To get into half time only being down two I thought was pretty good for us," Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund said.

The Comets "came out with a vengeance," scoring 10 straight points to begin the third quarter. By the end of the quarter the Hawks trailed 59-43.

"Unfortunately we let our offensive struggles affect our play on the defensive end and Boyden-Hull blew it open on us," Hoaglund noted. "They are so fast in transition and so smooth offensively, once that train gets moving it's hard to stop."

Any chance of a Hawk comeback in the fourth quarter was short-lived as Boyden-Hull pulled away to earn the 40-point win.

Lance Berends and Kooper Ebel paced H-M-S with 20 and 19 points. Mason Brinkman scored eight, Keevyn Jacobsma scored five and Jordan Ortega scored three.

For the first time all season, Berends was held to single digits in rebounds. He had six, along with three blocks. Ebel had six rebounds and two steals; Travis Kamradt had three rebounds and two steals; and Jacobsma had three rebounds and two assists.

• vs. MMCRU

After leading by two at half time, the Hawks saw MMCRU take control of the game in the second half to earn a 61-58 win on Jan. 18 at Marcus.

The teams battled evenly in the first half. The score was tied 17-17 after the opening quarter and H-M-S led 29-27 at half time.

MMCRU rallied in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead. H-M-S came back to force a tie and had opportunities to take the lead but could not convert.

"We scored enough points but couldn't get the defensive stops to come away with the win," Hoaglund observed. "We let them get into a rhythm early with some uncontested 3's and they were able to knock them down."

Scoring for H-M-S included Ebel with 19 points, Berends with 12, Kamradt with nine, Ortega with six, Brinkman with five, Jacobsma with four and Trenton Vollink with three.

Berends grabbed 10 rebounds; Ebel had nine rebounds, six steals and four assists; Brinkman had four rebounds and four assists; Ortega had four rebounds; and Kamradt finished with four steals and three assists.

• vs. Hinton

Hinton's Caleb Holmes won the scoring battle with H-M-S's Lance Berends, and the Blackhawks had more scoring punch from the rest of their squad to post a 62-39 win on Jan. 28 in Hartley.

Holmes scored 32 points while Berends finished with 22. Team-wise, the rest of the Blackhawks combined to score 30 points while H-M-S only had 17 from its other scorers. Berends also recorded 11 rebounds and three blocks.

The junior's night was significant as he scored the 1,000th point of his career.

Ebel scored eight points, Jacobsma scored five and Wyatt Borden and Ethan Diehm added two points each. Ebel finished with six rebounds and two assists; Jacobsma had four rebounds; and Kamradt had two assists.

The Hawks led 15-12 after one quarter but trailed 28-25 at half time. Hinton pulled away in the second half, outscoring H-M-S by 20 (34-14).

H-M-S fell to 5-11 overall and 1-6 in War Eagle Conference play. They finish the regular season at home against Sibley-Ocheyedan on Feb. 3, at Trinity Christian on Feb. 4 and at home against South O'Brien on Feb. 8.