Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn set the tone early against Sibley-Ocheyedan. HMS led 17-2 after one quarter and went on to hand the Generals a 56-38 defeat February 2 at Sibley.
“I loved our energy and effort on the both sides of the floor to open the game,” remarked Hawk head Coach Naet Hoaglund. “We were really solid defensively in the first half. I thought we worked really hard to get through screens and our closeouts were really good. I was pleased with our help side defense. I loved how we attacked the paint offensively and our ball movement was much better.”
The Hawks’ one-two scoring punch of Kooper Ebel and Lance Berends supplied 23 and 22 points respectively. Keevyn Jacobsma chipped in with five points and Travis Kamradt, Lucas Kroese and Isaac Schierholz each added two. Jacobsma led in assists with two.
HMS outrebounded the Generals 51-22. Leading the way were Berends with 17 boards, Ebel with 10, Jacobsma with eight and Kroese with seven. “I thought our effort on the boards was exceptional on both ends,” said Hoaglund. “Any time you can limit the opposing team to one-shot possessions you’re going to be satisfied. Probably more impressive was our effort on the offensive glass. We were able to create extra possessions, so to speak, with 22 offensive rebounds. Our outside shots and jump shots weren’t falling so to get those extra opportunities via offensive rebounds was awesome.”
The Hawks were 20-of-54 from the field (37 percent) and Sibley-Ocheyedan 17-of-56 (30 percent. The host team from the Siouxland Conference was 3-of-25 from three-point range while HMS missed all 10 trey attempts. The Hawks attempted 28 free throws and made 16. The Generals were just 1-of-3 from the charity stripe.
Ebel made four steals and Berends blocked two shots. Sibley-Ocheyedan committed 12 turnovers and the Hawks 14.
HMS 17 17 11 11 – 56
S-O 2 8 19 9 – 38