Tipping off the season in front of a supportive home crowd, Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn did not get the start it had hoped for. Visiting Woodbury Central dimmed the enthusiasm with a convincing 69-50 win December 2 at Hartley.
“We lost to a solid Woodbury Central team,” commented HMS head coach Naet Hoaglund. “I’m proud of our kids’ effort and the way we competed throughout the game. Offensively, we struggled to find rhythm early. We were stagnant and found it difficult to get ball movement. Once some of the first game jitters wore off, we were able to get the kind of movement we were looking for and started to find some rhythm and looked much more comfortable.”
The top scorers for the Hawks were Lance Berends with 22 points, Kooper Ebel with 19 and Jordan Ortega with 10. The only other point came from Mason Brinkman on a free throw. Brinkman led in assists with three. “Lance had a great game for us in the post,” said Hoaglund. “His effort battling for position and his ability to score through contact and between multiple defenders really helps get us going. Kooper had some great dribble penetration that led to finishes at the rim and kick out shots for open teammates. I was really pleased with Jordan Ortega and his spacing offensively. He put himself in position to be available for those kick out threes and was able to knock a few down for us, which was big for us.”
HMS was 22-of-54 from the floor for 41 percent. The Wildcats shot 47 percent with 28 baskets in 60 attempts. From beyond the arc the Hawks were 3-of-17 and Woodbury Central 6-of-17. Free throw shooting saw HMS make five of 13 and the Wildcats seven of 11.
“Defensively, I thought we competed hard,” remarked Hoaglund. “There were times where we were rotationally out of position and Woodbury Central was able to capitalize. We have to do a better job of rebounding and holding our opponent’s possessions to one shot. They had 16 second chance points and that was the biggest difference in the game, in my opinion.”
The Hawks were outrebounded 42-26. Leading board men for HMS were Berends with 12 rebounds and Ebel with six. Ebel came away with two steals. Woodbury Central committed 12 turnovers and the Hawks were guilty of 11.
WC 15 18 15 21 – 69
HMS 9 11 22 8 – 50