The Roland-Story Norsemen and South Hamilton Hawks basketball teams renewed their long-standing rivalry once more on Friday night at Roland-Story High School in Story City. The Norsemen girls came in at 10-0 and ranked #6 in Class 3A, while the Norsemen boys came in at 9-0 and ranked #6 in Class 2A. South Hamilton’s girls came in at 8-3, while South Hamilton’s boys came in at 9-1.
South Hamilton would be short-handed in the girls game, without the services of senior guard Makena Galetich, but despite her absence, the Hawks held the high-powered Norsemen to just 5 points in the opening quarter, and led 9-5 after 1. From there, however, the Norsemen offense woke up and looked as potent as ever, putting up 20 points in the 2nd quarter, 24 in the 3rd and 23 in the 4th, en route to a 72-36 win. The KQWC Players of the Game were Roland-Story’s Matilde Motta and South Hamilton’s Tanna Thompson. Motta finished with a game-high 21 points and 3 rebounds, while Thompson finished with a team-high 13 points for the Hawks.
The boys game followed in a clash of two teams that appear to be in the upper-echelon of Class 2A coming into 2024, and the game played out as such. South Hamilton got out to a hot start, but a furious run made by Jonovan Wilkinson himself put the Norsemen ahead 17-13 after the first quarter. The Norsemen continued to feed off of Wilkinson’s energy in the 2nd quarter, holding a 31-27 lead at halftime. The 3rd quarter wound up being the turning point for the Hawks, as Ryland Ubben sat midway through the quarter with 4 fouls. From there, however, senior forward Reece Ricke took the game over, propelling to a 46-40 lead going into the 4th quarter. Big stops and bigger shots from the Hawks helped propel South Hamilton to a 63-55 upset win, and snapped Roland-Story’s 30-game conference winning streak. The KQWC Players of the Game were South Hamilton’s Reece Ricke and Roland-Story’s Jonovan Wilkinson. Ricke finished with 15 points, all of them coming in the 2nd half, while Wilkinson finished with a game-high 27 points.
South Hamilton basketball returns to action on Friday, when they host Saydel in Heart of Iowa Conference action. Roland-Story basketball returns to action on Monday, when they host Southeast Valley.