The South Hamilton Hawks basketball team returned to action on Tuesday night, as they hosted the Trojans of West Marshall in Heart of Iowa Conference action. The South Hamilton girls entered with a 6-1 record and ranked #15 in Class 2A, while the South Hamilton boys entered with a 4-2 record.
Mark Henderson’s squad had a daunting task in front of them, as they looked to knock off the 2nd-ranked Trojans, led by UNI basketball-commit Katy Reyerson and sophomore sensation Bella Borgos. The Hawks did not back down from the challenge early, leading the Trojans 16-13 after one, extended to 33-28 at halftime. South Hamilton seemed poised to pull away, as they led 41-33 headed into the fourth quarter, but as any top-5 team would, the Trojans stormed back in the 4th quarter. The game came down to free throws, and West Marshall had a chance to get a heave off before the horn off a missed South Hamilton free throw, but the heave was well off as South Hamilton held on to a 48-47 upset of the #2 team in Class 3A. Hallee Feaker put up a monster night of 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Hawks.
The boys followed as they tried to bounce back from a close loss to Nevada last Tuesday night. Both teams went back and forth for the first quarter, with the Hawks up 15-11 at the end of the frame, but South High blew the doors off in the 2nd quarter, leading 38-18. Matt Juber’s squad would push the lead to 51-30 after three, before closing out a 67-49 win. Ryland Ubben led the Hawks with 11 points, while Reece Ricke finished with 10.
South Hamilton will return to action in the new year, when they travel to Gowrie to take on Southeast Valley on January 3rd.