Taking control when it counts most

Getting the ball to go in the basket was a key to success for Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in its 67-47 win over George-Little Rock.

The Hawk boys made 27-of-49 shots from the field in the game played Jan. 7 at George. Their 55 percent shooting included 10-of-18 made from outside the three-point arc.

"It was nice to get in the win column to start the second half of the season," said Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund. "I thought we competed hard and we were pretty connected as a team."

Isaac Schierholz had a "huge" game, scoring 30 points, including 19 in the first half. He also collected seven rebounds and dished out six assists.

"He was aggressive and looked to attack, which kind of forced G-LR to send two guys at him. He's such a willing and able passer in those situations," Hoaglund noted. "He didn't have to force anything. He took was was available and capitalized."

The Hawks scored first and never trailed. Their 15-8 lead after one quarter was challenged, however, as the Mustangs narrowed the deficit to 20-18. Kolby Douma's three-pointer started a run to put H-M-S back in control. Douma added a pair of three-pointers to close out the half and extend the lead to 40-22.

"That gave us a lot of momentum heading into halftime," Hoaglund observed.

H-M-S's largest lead of 24 points came late in the third quarter.

"I thought we did OK defensively. There were stretches where we played defense as a unit and made it difficult for them," Hoaglund said. "We need to get better on the defensive glass. Our effort was not good enough in that regard and we allowed far too many second change opportunities."

Caden Douma scored 14 points, Kolby Douma finished with nine, Jackson Vogt scored eight, Alex B illings scored four and Jayden Leth scored two.

Other contributions included Caden Douma with eight rebounds, five assists and two steals; Billings with seven rebounds; Kolby Douma with three rebounds; and Leth and Vogt with two rebounds.

• Win second in a row

An 11-2 run early in the fourth quarter proved to be decisive in the Hawks' 51-43 win over visiting West Sioux on Jan. 10.

The Hawks came back from a six-point opening deficit to take the lead early in the second quarter. H-M-S extended the margin to five points, but the Falcons came back to take a 17-16 lead into the intermission.

The teams traded leads during the final minutes of the third quarter, with H-M-S edging out to a 31-27 advantage. West Sioux cut the deficit to one before Caden Douma scored eight straight points and Schierholz hit a three-pointer to push H-M-S's lead to 42-32. The Falcons could get no closer than five points down the stretch.

Schierholz and Douma scored 22 and 16 points, respectively, while Vogt scored nine and Billings added four.

Schierholz also contributed 13 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks; Vogt had six rebounds and two assists; Douma had five rebounds and two assists; and Billings also had five rebounds.

H-M-S (3-7, 2-3) plays at Hinton on Jan. 17 and hosts South O'Brien on Jan. 21.