Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn survived a fourth quarter rally to defeat Harris-Lake Park 68-65 in overtime. The Hawks won the extra session 7-4 in the non-conference game played January 31 at Lake Park.
“We came out on top against a scrappy Harris-Lake Park team,” commented HMS head coach Naet Hoaglund. “I thought our defense in the first and third quarters was where it needed to be. We got a little out of sorts offensively in the second quarter. We had a few turnovers against their pressure that led to layups and it just felt like we were always scrambling to recover on defense. We came out in the second half and went on a little run. We changed things up defensively in the third quarter and went to more of a zone. By the time the fourth quarter came around, HLP was getting pretty comfortable and getting better looks. HLP battled back and were able to tie it up to send it to overtime. I thought our sense of urgency in the overtime period was really good.  Defensively we worked hard to get out on shooters and take away easy looks.  Offensively we valued the basketball and got the looks we needed. Kooper (Ebel) was able to hit two free throws to get us up three and then we were able hold on defensively at the end.”
The Hawks’ execution and Lance Berends’ hard work in the post resulted in the senior scoring 38 points. That was augmented by 13 points from Ebel, 11 from Keevyn Jacobsma and three from both Travis Kamradt and Trenton Vollink. Kamradt supplied seven assists and Ebel six.
Berends also pulled down 14 rebounds to go with the nine from Jacobsma and the eight from Ebel. Berends and Ebel recorded a pair of steals apiece and Vollink, Ebel and Berends each blocked a shot.
HMS shot 61 percent (28-of-46), thanks in large part to Berends’ 17-of-21 effort. The Wolves went 26-for-57 to shoot 46 percent. The Hawks were 3-of-13 from behind the arc, an area in which HLP went 7-for-21. HMS sank nine of 18 free throws while the Wolves were 6-of-7 at the line. The home team committed just eight turnovers and the Hawks were guilty of 13.
HMS 12 12 18 19 7 – 68
H-LP 9 17 12 23 4 – 65