It certainly seems like March is getting close, as the madness on the hardwood is heating up in area gymnasiums throughout the county.
It certainly seems like March is getting close, as the madness on the hardwood is heating up in area gymnasiums throughout the county.
On Jan. 11 at Hawken High School, the Hawks boys basketball team hosted NDCL’s Lions in an exciting contest that came down to the wire.
The Lions trailed by eight or more points for a good portion of the game, but overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat the home team, 58-56.
Behind 49-39 heading into the last quarter, NDCL went on a 14-5 run to get within one point of the Hawks.
The game was hot with 2:34 left to go, as the Lions outscored the Hawks 5-3 the rest of the way in order to claim a two-point victory.
Down 54-53, the Lions inbounded the ball, but the Hawks got a steal by Greg Price, who took the ball the length of the court and was fouled going to the rim.
Price then made both free throws to give the Hawks a 56-53 lead with 2:20 left.
The Lions added a basket by Angelo Tamburrino, who attacked the rim from the left corner of the baseline.
Even with 53.4 seconds left in the game, the Lions were still down by one, 56-55. NDCL inbounded the ball and Mason Pesho got it at the top of the key. He then dribbled the ball toward the right corner and found Tamburrino open.
Tamburrino quickly got the ball to Brendan Hernan in the low post, who alertly passed the ball to Conner Hernan, who cut quickly across the left baseline toward the hoop.
Hernan then laid the ball in off the glass with an underhand scoop to put the Lions ahead, 57-56, with 36.5 seconds left.
Pesho added one at the line for the Lions with 17 seconds left to give the Lions a 58-56 victory.
Afterward, Lions Assistant Coach Steve Steinmetz said that once the Hawks got out to an 11-3 run to start the game, the Lions did a much better job defending and contesting the Hawks shots the rest of the contest.
“They have a lot of guys who put the ball in the basket, and we were losing them a little bit in that first few minutes of the game,” the coach said. “We needed to make sure we did a better job of finding them and make sure we challenged their shots.”
He added: “We just had to make it a little bit more difficult than we were making it in that first quarter stretch.”
In those dramatic final minutes, Coach Steinmetz said that NDCL’s defense made some crucial stops to help seal the victory.
“I think we got one more stop than they did,” he said. “I think that was probably the biggest thing. We got one more stop in a critical point, and I think that was the game. The game could have easily gone either way. As it is, it went down to the wire.
“Credit to them, they’re a good basketball program, they played a great game.”
Coach Steinmetz also noted the excellent play of Hernan, a senior, in helping the Lions overcome their 10-point fourth-quarter deficit. In particular, he said Hernan had an excellent second half on the glass, as hauled in eight rebounds.
Hernan said his team kept a positive mindset throughout the contest.
“I don’t think anyone on the team ever thought ‘oh, there’s no way we win’ in any game ever,” Hernan said. “There’s never like a ‘we definitely lost this game’ (mentality). It’s always a comeback mentality for us.”
With seven points in the final quarter, Hernan led the Lions offensively for the game with 25 points total. Also leading the Lions offensively were Luke Keep (17 points), Tamburrino (11), Ryan Lipowski (2), Brendan Hernan (2) and Pesho (1).
The Hawks were led offensively by Greg Price (22 points), Ice Taylor (10), Daron Hill (8), Jordan Johnson (8), David Grajzl (7) and Jap Aujla (1).
