A tough stretch of games

After fashioning a 7-2 record through the first half of January, the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn boys' basketball team has lost seven of their last eight games. The only win came against MMCRU, 63-51, on Jan. 24 in Hartley.

H-M-S led by 11 points in the first quarter and by 15 late in the second before taking a 31-20 lead into half time. The Royals narrowed the margin to eight points in the third quarter and made another run to get to within seven with less than two minutes to play. The Hawks then pushed the advantage to 14 in the final minute to secure the win.

"I was really pleased with our defense, especially in the first half," said Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund. "Other than a few possessions where we were slow getting back in transition or another possession where we were late with our rotations, we felt pretty good."

Offensively, H-M-S was led by Lance Berends with 27 points and Kooper Ebel with 19. Travis Kamradt scored eight points, Keevyn Jacobsma scored six and Trenton Vollink added three. The Hawks shot well from the floor, making 26-of-50 attempts.

"I thought our spacing and ball movement were really good. We were able to work both sides of the floor and attack the paint," Hoaglund noted.

Despite 17 rebounds by Berends, eight by Jacobsma, seven by Ebel and three by Kamradt, Hoaglund felt H-M-S allowed too many late offensive boards which allowed MMCRU to stay in the game.

Ebel also dished out 10 assists and had three steals, and Berends recorded six blocks.

• vs. Remsen St. Mary's

Coming off a lackluster defensive performance the previous game, the Hawks stepped up the intensity against Remsen St. Mary's [1A No. 7]. Only a late surge allowed St. Mary's to come away with a 60-50 win on Jan. 23 in Hartley.

"I was much happier with our effort defensively. I thought we did a better job of containing the ball and limiting open shots," Hoaglund said.

H-M-S trailed by nine points in the first quarter but managed to get to within 18-15. St. Mary's extended their lead back to eight and the Hawks answered to narrow the margin to 29-27 at half time.

H-M-S pulled to within 31-30 early in the second half but then fell behind by nine. Another rally cut the deficit to two early the fourth quarter, but a 7-0 run put St. Mary's in control down the stretch.

Ebel scored 20 points, Berends scored 14, Kamradt scored six, Jacobsma scored four, and Lucas Kroese and Vollink scored three.

Berends recorded 10 rebounds and three blocks; Ebel had eight rebounds, two assists and two steals; Jacobsma had five rebounds; Vollink had four assists; and Kamradt added three rebounds.

• vs. Hinton

H-M-S's 10-point lead at half time was not enough to hold off Hinton on Jan. 27. After rallying to force overtime, the Blackhawks went on to earn the 53-51 win. No individual stats were available as of press deadline.

H-M-S (8-8, 3-5) plays at Sibley-Ocheyedan on Feb. 2, hosts Trinity Christian on Feb. 3 and closes out the regular season on Feb. 7 at South O'Brien.