Caught in scramble mode

Defensive breakdowns against a hot-shooting team doomed Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn during a 78-49 loss to visiting West Sioux on Jan. 20.

Mason Coppock and Booker Walsh outscored the entire H-M-S team with 28 and 24 points, respectively, The Falcons built leads of 19-12 after one quarter and 38-22 at the half thanks to an efficient offensive performance.

"They were able to get the ball wherever they wanted it and capitalized by making their shots," said Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund. "They had us in scramble mode defensively for the majority of the game and were able to score from anywhere they wanted."

The Hawks allowed 22 points in the third quarter and trailed 60-38 to open the final period. West Sioux continued to pull away over the final eight minutes.

Lance Berends scored 28 points, but the rest of the Hawks only combined to score 21.

"Offensively we were out of sorts for a lot of the game. We made things really difficult for us with poor spacing," Hoaglund said. "Lance had a big game for us but if shots aren't falling, it will be easy for opponents to key on him to limit his touches."

Kooper Ebel scored nine points, Keevyn Jacobsma scored four, Lucas Kroese scored three, and Ethan Huberg and Trenton Vollink scored two.

Berends also had a big night on the boards with 17 rebounds, along with three blocks. Ebel had 10 rebounds and three assists; Jacobsma had nine rebounds; and Landen Elwood had four rebounds.

• vs. South O'Brien

Struggles on both ends of the floor were problematic for H-M-S during a 69-61 loss to South O'Brien on Jan. 17.

The Wolverines' shooting percentage from the field (46.2) was not blistering, but Hoaglund felt the Hawks did not play well enough defensively.

"South O'Brien did a nice job of moving the ball and catching us out of position, and were able to knock down shots, a lot of the time uncontested," he noted. "I thought their ball movement was a big factor in their efficiency offensively."

H-M-S scored the game's first six points and held the lead until the Wolverines forced a 14-14 tie. After falling behind by nine, H-M-S pulled to within 24-22 before the Wolverines extended the margin to eight by half time.

The Hawks fell farther behind in the second half as their shots would not fall.

"I thought our ball movement and spacing weren't good enough which forced rushed and contested shots," Hoaglund observed. "When we did get open looks, we weren't able to capitalize on enough of those opportunities."

Ebel scored seven straight points midway through the final quarter to cut the margin to 10. The Hawks continued to battle, but could get no closer than eight points.

Berends topped the scoring with 29 points and Ebel added 21. Travis Kamradt scored five points while Jacobsma, Kroese and Tyson Tessum each scored two.

Berends grabbed 18 rebounds, Jacobsma had 11 and Ebel had nine. Other contributions included four assists and two steals by Kamradt, and three steals and two assists by Ebel.

The Hawks fell to 7-5 overall and 3-3 in the conference. The game with Boyden-Hull on Thursday, Jan. 26 will be played at Hull. That will be followed by road games at Hinton on Jan. 27 and Harris-Lake Park on Jan. 31.