The South Hamilton Hawks basketball teams returned to action on Tuesday night, as they traveled to Des Moines to take on the Saydel Eagles in Heart of Iowa Conference action at Saydel High School. The South Hamilton girls entered with a 12-2 record and 8-1 in the conference, while the South Hamilton boys entered at 7-5 and 5-4 in the conference.
South Hamilton’s girls made quick work of the Eagles, using defense-to-instant offense to take a 17-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, with the lead then extended to 28-9 at halftime. The Hawks offense continued to keep the foot on the gas in the 2nd half, as the lead then ballooned to 46-21 at the end of the 3rd quarter, before a 4th quarter on cruise control gave South Hamilton a 59-32 win. Hallee Feaker led all scorers with 23 points, while Makena Galetich finished with 21 points and was the Jewell Market Player of the Game. Saydel was led by Kaydence Butters and Paige Rummans, who each finished with 10 points.
The boys game followed with South Hamilton looking to bounce back from a tight loss against Greene County the previous Tuesday, but a slow start provided some foreshadowing as the Hawks trailed 16-12 after the first quarter. South Hamilton would fight back, trailing by one at halftime and then went blow-for-blow with the Eagles. Reece Ricke had two shots at the free throw line with 6 seconds left to tie and take the lead, and clanked both free throws, with Saydel drawing the foul and knocking down both free throws. Ty Koehnk’s prayer 3 fell short as South Hamilton fell 66-63. Reece Ricke was the Jewell Market Player of the Game with a team-high 17 points, while Saydel’s Cade Boten had a game-high 21 points.
South Hamilton returns to action on Thursday, when they host rivals South Hardin at South Hamilton High School in Jewell.