H-M-S boys are 'locked in' defensively

n Jan. 18, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn boys' basketball lost five straight games, including two to highly-rated opponents.

But as the calendar turned from January to February, the Hawks ramped up the defensive intensity, leading to wins in their final five regular season games. Defense again ruled in the second half of the Hawks' 49-34 defeat of South O'Brien on Feb. 8 in Hartley. The victory improved their final regular season record to 10-11.

"I'm really happy with how we competed and how we finished the game," Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund said. "Obviously there are things to clean up, but the way we have finished out the regular season has been awesome."

Jordan Ortega's three-pointer put the Hawks in the lead after they had fallen behind in the opening minutes. Mason Brinkman scored his two points of the game to help H-M-S maintain a four-point advantage later in the first half.

South O'Brien's 8-0 run gave them a 23-19 half time lead, which they maintained until Lance Berends took over the final 3-1/2 minutes of the third quarter. His 10 unanswered points put H-M-S on top, 34-29.

"I thought both defenses did a really nice job of making things difficult offensively," Hoaglund observed. "We adjusted our defense toward the end of the third quarter that sparked us, and we were able to go on a run and never really looked back."

Berends had a "huge game" on both ends of the floor. On offense he finished with 31 points; on the glass he grabbed 14 rebounds [six offensive/eight defensive]; and on defense he blocked seven shots.

Kooper Ebel did not score until the fourth quarter, but his steal and layup in the opening minute set the tone. He also scored on two other fast-break opportunities and was "locked in defensively" throughout the game. Travis Kamradt made both of his three-pointers in the final quarter to push the Hawks' lead to double digits.

"I thought the energy we played with, especially during the second half, was awesome," Hoaglund noted. "Our defense was really locked in during the second half, only allowing 11 points."

Ebel contributed seven rebounds, three assists and two steals; Keevyn Jacobsma had seven rebounds and three assists; Brinkman had four rebounds and three assists; and Kamradt had two rebounds and two steals.

During the final five regular season games, the Hawks limited opponents to an average of 38.4 points.

H-M-S finished with a War Eagle Conference record of 4-6, defeating Akron-Westfield, MMCRU, South O'Brien and Trinity Christian.