Early leads set the tone

A 13-point half time lead gave Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn enough of a cushion to hold off Harris-Lake Park, 56-51, for a War Eagle Conference boys' basketball win on Jan. 6.

Three Hawks scored in double figures, led by Lance Berends with 22 points. Kooper Ebel scored 14 points and Travis Kamradt added 13. Keevyn Jacobsma and Landen Elwood rounded out the scoring with four and three points, respectively.

H-M-S built a 21-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. H-LP cut it to 23-19 with four minutes left in the half, but a strong finish gave the Hawks a 35-22 half time advantage.

"I thought we got off to a really good start in the first quarter. I loved our attacking mindset on the offensive end," said Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund. "I thought our defense was exceptional. We were active, we were on time with where we needed to be, and we made them work for just about everything they got."

Kamradt scored eight of the Hawks' 12 points in the third quarter, helping them maintain a 47-36 lead. The margin grew to 15 before the Wolves rallied to within 52-48 with 90 seconds to play. Free throws by Kamradt and Ebel helped H-M-S hang on for the win.

"I was really pleased with Travis Kamradt's performance, especially in the third quarter when H-LP went triangle-and-two [on defense]," Hoaglund noted. "He just kept looking for opportunities to be aggressive and attack, and was able to deliver when we needed it most."

Rebounding leaders were Ebel with 14, Berends with 10 and Jacobsma with eight. Kamradt added four assists; Ebel had three blocks, two steals and two assists; and Trenton Vollink contributed two rebounds, two steals and two assists.

• vs. Akron-Westfield

Another strong first-half performance translated into a win for H-M-S. Hosting Akron-Westfield in a makeup game on Jan. 7, the Hawks built an 18-point half time advantage and went on to defeat the Westerners, 63-42.

A late surge put H-M-S in front, 13-6, after one quarter. Holding the Westerners to just three points over the next eight minutes, the Hawks extended the lead to 27-9 at half time.

"I thought our defense set the tone early in the game," Hoaglund said. "Anytime you allow a team to score single digits in a quarter you know you've done a good job. To give up nine points total in that first half was pretty remarkable for our guys."

The margin grew to 19 in the third quarter before Akron-Westfield narrowed it to 41-26. From there, the teams traded small scoring runs and H-M-S was able to earn its third straight conference win.

Leading the scoring were Ebel with 23 points, Berends with 12 and Jacobsma with 11. Kamradt and Vollink each added eight points.

"I was really pleased with Keevyn's performance. He hit some needed shots when they were taking Lance and Kooper out of the mix," Hoaglund added. "The same thing goes for Trenton. For him to be able to knock down an open three or two per game is going to make the defense have to play us more honest."

Ebel also contributed 16 rebounds, two steals and two assists; Berends had 12 rebounds; Jacobsma had seven rebounds; Kamradt had five assists, four steals and three rebounds; Vollink added four rebounds and four assists; and Lucas Kroese had three assists and two rebounds.

H-M-S's game with GT/RA on Jan. 3 was cancelled. The Hawks' next games are on the road at West Bend-Mallard on Jan. 12 and MMCRU on Jan. 13, as well as a home contest with South O'Brien on Jan. 17.