Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn answered a second quarter rally by Trinity Christian with a strong effort after halftime. The result was a 53-42 victory by the Hawks December 3 at Hartley. The win was the first for the Hawks, who improved to 1-2 on the young season.
HMS carved out a 15-4 advantage after the first eight minutes but the next eight were a different story. The second quarter belonged to the Tigers to the tune of 22-12. “When they were pressing us in the second quarter we didn’t set things up and had 12 turnovers,” noted Hawk head coach Lester Tessum. “That never does well for your scoring.”
The second half saw the pendulum swing back to the side of the Hawks. HMS outscored the Tigers 26-16 after halftime. “We calmed down a little bit against the press and didn’t turn the ball over,” explained Tessum. “We changed our defense. We packed it in a little bit trying to stop their inside game and make them shoot an outside shot more.” The coach felt that when his girls settled down after intermission they did a better job of running the offense, but there’s always room for improvement. Said Tessum, “We need to be sharper with our offensive sets, make harder cuts and anticipate passing to the open girl.”
Each team finished with 17 baskets but it took HMS a lot more tries to reach that number. The Hawks put up 62 shots compared with 42 for Trinity. That translated to 41 percent shooting for the Tigers and 27 percent accuracy for HMS. From beyond the three-point line The Hawks were 5-of-22 and the Tigers 2-of-11. HMS attempted 22 free throws and made good on 14 of them. Trinity was 6-of-15 at the foul line.
Lydia Harders paced the Hawks with 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals. Jasmine Lux contributed 10 points, six boards and three steals. Elise Haack and Emily Otto each finished with eight points and five rebounds. Kylee Schiphoff added six points, Emily Mutombo four and Abby Douma two. Haack, Harders and Otto each recorded one assist. The turnover totals showed the Hawks with 24 and Trinity with 34.
TC 4 22 5 11 – 42
HMS 15 12 8 18 – 53