The boys' basketball teams from Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and Trinity Christian have regularly played close games in recent years. Five of the past six meetings were decided by three points or less and only twice since 2011 has the final margin been greater than eight.

This season's first meeting between the Hawks and Tigers won't be among the recent string of tight finishes. Hosting Trinity Christian on Dec. 8, H-M-S built a 13-point half time lead and rolled to a 60-37 win.

"Our kids played very well," Hawk coach Mark Petersen said. "We were able to hit some shots. We were patient offensively and got some good looks inside."

Early indications were the War Eagle Conference matchup would be another tight one. But a 10-point run to close out the first quarter put H-M-S on top for good. The Hawks' lead grew to 28-8 before the Tigers closed out the first half with a 7-0 run to make the half time score 28-15.

H-M-S extended its advantage to 24 points in the third quarter and led by as many as 29 points with less than three minutes left in the game.

"Defensively our kids played exceptionally well," Petersen said.

Lance Berends led a trio of H-M-S players to score in double figures with 16 points. Ben Haack scored 12 and Kooper Ebel finished with 11. Also contributing to the scoring were Kayl Jacobsma with eight points, Sam Heyn scored six and DJ Doyle added four.

The Hawks shot well, making 54.3 percent of their attempts from the floor. They were 6-of-9 at the foul line.

Leading rebounders were Berends and Haack with five, Doyle and Ebel with four and Heyn with three.

Ebel also recorded four assists and four steals; Heyn had four assists; Haack had three assists and two steals; and Berends had three steals, two assists and two blocks.

• vs. West Sioux

West Sioux overcame H-M-S's half time advantage to earn a 57-51 win on Dec. 11 at Hawarden.

The Hawks trailed 17-14 after one quarter but held West Sioux to just six points in the second. Meanwhile H-M-S scored 13 points to take a 27-23 lead into the intermission. The Falcons rallied to tie the score at 39-39 and then outscored the Hawks by six in the fourth quarter to claim the win.

"We were able to make shots in the first half and we didn't make shots in the second half," Petersen noted.

H-M-S made more field goals (19-17) and committed fewer turnovers (11-22). But the Hawks only made 7-of-31 of their three-point attempts and were at a big disadvantage at the free throw line. West Sioux made 16-of-21 attempts while H-M-S was only 6-of-13.

"If we had gone 13-of-13, we would have won the game by one," Petersen said. "Defensively we played well enough to win."

MIKE PETERSEN/SENTINEL-NEWS

Two Trinity Christian defenders are unable to deny Lance Berends his shot at the basket. Berends led the victorious Hawks with 16 points.

Scoring leaders for H-M-S were Berends with 14 points, Heyn with 10, Ebel with nine, Jacobsma with eight and Doyle with four.

Berends grabbed eight rebounds; Ebel had five rebounds and four assists; Haack had five rebounds, two assists and two steals; Jacobsma had five rebounds and two blocks; and Doyle had three rebounds. Mason Brinkman contributed three assists.

H-M-S hosts Remsen St. Mary's on Dec. 18 and plays at South O'Brien on Dec. 22 to close out the preholiday schedule.