Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn scored a season-high 51 points but it wasn’t enough. Sibley-Ocheyedan got double figure scoring from three players and beat the Hawks 68-51 February 1 at Hartley.
“I thought we competed really hard,” commented Hawk head coach Naet Hoaglund. “We kept it within reach for the majority of the first half. Sibley-Ocheyedan closed out the first half pretty strong. It was a six point game with a couple of minutes left in the second quarter. We lacked urgency in a couple of our closeouts leading to catch and shoot threes that Sibley-Ocheyedan was able to capitalize on. Instead of being down six going into half, we go down 13 and it became a different ball game. We were able to cut the deficit to nine a couple of times in the second half but really couldn’t get any closer than that. Every time we made a run, Sibley was able to respond. I thought we really struggled to keep the ball out of the paint. Whether by penetration or by pass, we allowed the ball to get there too easily and they were able to convert. We weren’t able to convert their missed shots to defensive rebounds enough and spotted them too many second chance points. Offensively, we continue to make strides.  We are getting better and better shot opportunities each time out, we just aren’t able to convert efficiently enough. We need to continue sharing the basketball and making the right play for the team.”
The coach spotlighted some of his team members. “We were led by Jayden Leth with 29 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals,” said Hoaglund. “He continues to progress and is becoming a consistent scorer for us down the stretch. Lawton Schiphoff had eight points, five rebounds and four assists. We need to get Lawton going on the offensive end for us to be able to compete. George Vargas had five points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. George continues to give great effort. It’s so fun to watch that kid compete. He’s got a motor that never stops. Zac Pearson had five points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal. I’m proud of the strides Zac’s made over the last few games. Being thrust into the starting role, he continues to improve and make the correct decisions. His activity on the defensive end is really helpful for us.”
Alex Billings rounded out the HMS scoring with four points. Countering the Hawk scoring effort were the Generals’ trio of Gavin Stanton (19 points), Sam Schnepf (18) and Ben Byers (12).
S-O 17 20 19 12 – 68
HMS 10 14 13 14 – 51