Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn faced a daunting task: hitting the road to take on a two-loss Remsen St. Mary’s team at their place. HMS was up to the challenge, playing St. Mary’s to a draw after one half of basketball. The second half, however, went the way of the home team which came away with a 58-45 victory in the Class 1A District 1 semifinal game played February 16 at Remsen. HMS ended the season with a record of 12-10.
“I’m proud of how our guys battled against a really good Remsen St. Mary’s team,” said HMS head coach Naet Hoaglund. “We were able to hang around for the majority of the game but just didn’t have enough to come out on top.” The coach termed the first 16 minutes a back-and-forth battle. “I thought our defense was solid in the first half and we made them have to work for quality looks.”
St. Mary’s started the second half with six quick points. “We really struggled to contain St. Mary’s on the defensive end in that third quarter,” said Hoaglund. “It seemed like they had us scrambling each possession and got really good looks. We had a few lapses in communication and St. Mary’s was able to capitalize. We were within striking distance heading into the fourth quarter but St. Mary’s put the clamps down defensively and we struggled to get good looks.”
Each team shot 46 percent for the game but St. Mary’s got more chances going 23-for-50 compared to 16-for-35 for HMS. The visitors made five three-pointers and St. Mary’s four. HMS was 8-of-10 from the free throw line and the home team 8-of-9.
Kooper Ebel led HMS with 22 points. Lance Berends added another 15 but they didn’t come easy. “They made it really difficult to get Lance going,” noted his coach. “Every time we looked to get Lance the ball they ran two, three, and sometimes four guys at him and played him pretty physical. We were stagnant offensively and weren’t able to close the gap in the end.”
Rounding out the HMS scoring were Travis Kamradt with five points and Keevyn Jacobsma with three. The assists column showed three for Ebel, two for both Kamradt and Trenton Vollink and one apiece for Berends and Lucas Kroese.
Berends grabbed 10 rebounds, Ebel five and Kroese two. Ebel and Berends each blocked a pair of shots. Landen Elwood recorded a steal as did Ebel. St. Mary’s turned the ball over eight times. HMS was guilty of 17 turnovers.
Finishing their time as HMS basketball players are seniors Ebel, Kamradt, Vollink, Jacobsma, Berends, Elwood and Kroese, along with Ethan Diehm and Tyson Tessum. “I’m thankful for our nine seniors and their leadership over the years,” stated Hoaglund. “I’m grateful for the relationships I’ve grown with them and for the opportunity to coach them. I’m proud of their accomplishments on and off the basketball court and so appreciative for who they are as people. We are blessed to have had their leadership and we are prideful in how they have represented our school and communities.”
HMS 10 16 13 6 – 45
RSM 13 13 21 11 – 58
11 – 52