A good start to the New Year

A good start at the beginning of the game and scoring runs in the second half pushed Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn past Unity Christian, 40-35. The non-conference game was played Jan. 4 in Hartley.

The Hawks scored five unanswered points in the opening 3-1/2 minutes and led 7-4 after one quarter. A five-point advantage early in the second quarter melted as the Knights rallied to take a 12-11 lead. The teams traded leads for the next four minutes and the first half ended with Unity Christian on top, 16-15.

H-M-S trailed by four in the third quarter but a 10-2 scoring run put them on top, 30-25. The Knights cut the deficit to 32-29 early in the fourth quarter, but the Hawks scored six straight points to put the game out of reach.

Kylee Schiphoff led H-M-S with 17 points, Frankie Mohni scored eight, Abby Douma and Moriah Otto scored six, and Gracie Knobloch added three. The Hawks connected on 15-of-46 shots from the floor.

The visitors finished with a 42-33 advantage in rebounds. Douma led H-M-S with seven, Eliza Tewes and Otto each had six, Addison Sheeler grabbed five rebounds, and Knobloch and Schiphoff each had three.

Knobloch also had four steals, and Mohni and Tewes had three. Douma had four blocks.

Unity Christian, which was led in scoring by Ruby Zylstra with 10 points, had won 14 straight games against H-M-S while both teams competed in the War Eagle Conference. The Knights now compete in the Siouxland.

• Another low-scoring battle

Points were again at a premium on Jan. 5 at Lake Park, but H-M-S scored enough when it counted most during a 39-34 win over Harris-Lake Park.

H-M-S seemed to be in control early in the game, leading 12-3 at the end of the first quarter. H-LP chipped away at the deficit and tied the score at 15-15. The Hawks then scored the final six points of the half to build a 21-15 advantage.

A 7-0 run to start the second half increased H-M-S's lead to 28-15, but the Wolves scored the next 11 points to cut the deficit to two. Back-to-back three-pointers by Schiphoff then made it an eight-point game. H-LP made a pair of three-pointers to get to within 34-32. Schiphoff made a two-point basket and hit another three-pointer to make the score 39-34.

During a furious 90 seconds, Schiphoff also had two blocks and came up with a steal, and Otto also had a steal to help secure the win.

The Hawks had multiple chances at the foul line to increase their lead, but only made 5-of-19 attempts. They made 14-of-44 shots from the floor.

Scoring for H-M-S included Schiphoff with 17 points, Otto with 11, and Mohni and Lindsey Van Es with three.

Otto grabbed 13 rebounds and two steals; Douma had six rebounds, four steals and three blocks; Schiphoff had four rebounds, three steals and two blocks; Tewes had four rebounds and three assists; and Knobloch had three rebounds and two steals.

H-LP was led by Kendal Niemeier with 11 points.

H-M-S (6-5, 2-3) hosts Sheldon on Jan. 11 for the game which was postponed due to weather, and will host MMCRU on Jan. 12 and play at South O'Brien on Jan. 16.

• G-LR stats

The following are statistics from the girls' game with George-Little Rock on Dec. 19.

Points: Moriah Otto 12; Abby Douma, Frankie Mohni and Kylee Schiphoff 3; Eliza Tewes and Lindsey Van Es 2; Gracie Knobloch 1.

Rebounds: Otto 8; Douma 5; Schiphoff and Tewes 3; Mohni 2.

Steals: Knobloch and Schiphoff 2.

FG Shooting: 8-of-38, 21 percent; FT shooting: 9-of-14, 64.3 percent; 23 rebounds; 8 steals; 28 turnovers.