A perfect storm

Opponents' fast starts kept Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn on the losing side of the scoreboard during the final week of the boys' regular season.

Sioux Central's 14-0 run set the tone during the Hawks' 67-46 loss on Feb. 5 in Hartley. The Rebels led 22-6 at the end of the first quarter and 38-16 at halftime. H-M-S outscored the Rebels by a 14-10 margin in the third quarter, but they answered with a 12-2 run and put the game out of reach.

"We dug ourselves a pretty big hole that first quarter. We struggled to get a rhythm going offensively," Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund noted. "I thought we struggled to keep the ball out of the paint defensively. We were slow in our rotations and they were able to capitalize."

Isaac Schierholz led H-M-S with 16 points, Jayden Leth scored 10, George Vargas scored seven, Alex Billings scored six, Brody Meendering made a three-pointer and Kolby Douma and Zac Pearson each scored two points. Hoaglund felt the offense struggled without point guard Lawton Schiphoff, who was out due to illness.

Vargas grabbed six rebounds and two steals; Douma had five rebounds, five assists and three steals; Leth and Pearson had three rebounds and two assists; and Schierholz had two rebounds.

"I was happy with how our guys competed. Just too many mistakes early and inconsistent defense and rebounding ultimately did us in," Hoaglund said.

Four Rebels scored in double figures, led by Jack Christian with 18 points.

• Fall to Wolverines

The Hawks struggled in every phase during a 65-7 loss to South O'Brien on Feb. 6.

Leth made a three-pointer and Schierholz made a basket to put H-M-S in front, 5-4. The Wolverines closed out the first quarter with a 17-0 run, scored 21 unanswered points in the second quarter and 17 more in the third to build a 55-5 lead.

Vargas's basket with 4:45 left in the game gave the Hawks their final two points.

"We were thoroughly whopped by a good Wolverine team," Hoaglund acknowledged. "It's frustrating because that outcome doesn't reflect the kind of team we are and the effort we normally play with. It was a perfect storm of a bunch of different things."

Pearson and Schierholz each grabbed three rebounds; Vargas had two rebounds and two steals; and Douma and Leth also had two rebounds.

Leading the scoring for South O'Brien was Derek Paulsen with 12 points.

H-M-S finished the season with an 0-10 mark in War Eagle Conference play.