Hamilton hangs on, upends defending champ Grand Lake
Warren Arceneaux
By Warren Arceneaux
warceneaux@americanpress.com
Hamilton Christian dominated the middle portion of the game and held on Friday at the end for a 60-54 District 4-1A win over reigning champion Grand Lake.
Hamilton (10-4, 4-0) surged ahead with a 10-0 run early in the second quarter and maintained the lead the rest of the way.
Grand Lake (1-1, 1-1) started the game with a 12-5 run but went cold in the second and third quarters, scoring a combined 17 points to Hamilton’s 33.
Tyler Young scored eight points in the first quarter to key the early Hornets surge. He finished with a game-high 26 points.
Hamilton’s second-half surge featured several fast-break baskets off Grand Lake turnovers. Elijah Belton scored eight points in the quarter and Derek Brown added six on a pair of 3-pointers.
“Defense turned into offense,” Hamilton head coach Dexter Washington said of the run. “Brown made a three and it got him excited, got the team excited.”
Mason Russell scored eight points in the first quarter and finished with a team-high 19.
Antoine Scott scored 15 off the bench for Hamilton, including seven in the fourth quarter to help the Warriors hold on.
“Mason made big plays for us, was aggressive, and Antoine was the man off the bench,” Washington said. “He came in and did all the dirty work, got some big rebounds for us, as did Mason.
“We didn’t make our free throws. We’ll be back here shooting them at 8 in the morning.”
The Hornets rallied in the fourth quarter, twice getting within five points after led by as many as 14 early in the quarter.
Young scored eight points in the fourth quarter, including a putback basket with 18 seconds left to get the Hornets within 59-54. Scott made a free throw and Grand Lake didn’t score on its final possession.
Gabe Boudreaux added 10 points for Grand Lake.
Rick Hickman / American Press