Defense sets the tone

Defense was a key component in Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's 54-26 win over Harris-Lake Park, which completed the season sweep of the Wolves on Jan. 14 in Hartley.

H-LP scored the first three points of the game but would not put the ball in the basket again until midway through the second quarter.

"I thought we set the tone for the game on the defensive end. Everything H-LP was going to get was going to have to be earned," Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund said. "I was really happy with the energy and effort we played with."

Caden Douma made four consecutive three pointers at the midpoint of the first half to give H-M-S a double-digit lead. The Hawks led 26-9 at halftime and increased the margin to 38-15 at the end of the third quarter.

Douma finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He made 11-of-22 shots from the floor, including six three-pointers.

"Caden had a really good offensive game and rebounded well for us," Hoaglund noted. "He did a nice job of moving without the ball and finding soft spots in the defense."

Alex Billings scored 10 points, and contributed six rebounds, four blocks and two steals. Hoaglund credited the junior with playing "a huge role" in the Hawks' defensive effort.

Kolby Douma scored five points and had two assists; Jackson Vogt scored four points, grabbed seven rebounds and came up with two steals; Isaac Schierholz scored three points, dished out 12 assists and pulled down 11 rebounds; and Riley Wiersma had two points and two rebounds.

• Struggle to score against Orabs

H-M-S could not generate much offense during a 65-23 loss at Sheldon on Jan. 13.

The Hawks trailed 12-6 at the end of the first quarter and 26-7 at the half. The third quarter ended with Sheldon leading 53-18.

"We struggled to find any kind of rhythm on the offensive end. We played passively and our ball movement suffered," Hoaglund said. "We couldn't manufacture the shots we wanted and our offense became a real grind."

Schierholz scored 11 points, Billings scored six, Caden Douma scored four and Vogt added two. H-M-S made just 8-of-31 shots from the floor while the Orabs were 25-of-48.

"They shot lights out and were able to capitalize on the open looks we gave them," Hoaglund said. "They could do pretty much anything they wanted on the offensive end. It was a kind of perfect storm and unfortunately we happened to be on the wrong side of it."

Schierholz finished with six rebounds and two assists; Billings had four rebounds and three blocks; and Kolby Douma and Vogt each had three rebounds.

• Slow start seals loss to Hinton

Hinton broke out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter and that was the margin of the Hawks' 62-49 loss on Jan. 17 at Hinton.

The Blackhawks' lead after one quarter was 24-11 and both teams scored 14 points in the second quarter. The second half was also a draw, with both teams scoring 24 points.

Point totals for H-M-S were: Caden Douma 17, Schierholz 11, Jayden Leth 9, Kolby Douma 6, Billings 4 and Vogt 2.

Schierholz had seven rebounds and four assists; Caden Douma had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks; Billings grabbed four rebounds; Vogt finished with three rebounds and two assists; and Leth also had two assists.

The Hawks fell to 4-9 overall and 3-4 in War Eagle Conference play. They play at Akron-Westfield on Jan. 24 and at MMCRU (1A No. 4) on Jan. 28.