Turnovers that led to quick scores made things easy for Sheldon in a 68-31 win over Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn. The boys' non-conference game was played Jan. 11 in Hartley.

The Orabs rolled to a 25-8 lead in the first quarter, scoring many of their points off Hawk turnovers. While the scoring pace slowed considerably in the second quarter, H-M-S still trailed 39-12 at halftime.

"Sheldon was very disruptive in their press and caused us fits with it the whole night. We just shoot ourselves in the foot when we turn the ball over like we did," Hawk coach Naet Hoaglund admitted. "The live ball turnovers that lead to layups and easy baskets are really killers."

The Hawks continued to be hampered by turnovers and Sheldon's offensive rebounding in the second half. The Orabs led 52-23 after three quarters and pulled away in the final period.

"They had 34 points off turnovers. You won't win any games where you spot the opponents 34 points. It makes it really hard to compete," Hoaglund said.

George Vargas led H-M-S with 11 points and 14 rebounds. The senior also had two assists and two steals.

"He's usually one of the smaller guys on the court but he puts himself in situations to be successful because of his effort and grit," Hoaglund said. "To see him come away with 14 rebounds tells you all you need to know about his heart."

Lawton Schiphoff scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds, and Kolby Douma added six points and two rebounds in his first varsity start.

"I thought as a freshman he handled it very well, and it will pay huge dividends down the road," Hoaglund said.

Sheldon had three players score in double figures, led by Ryan Vollink with 16 points.

H-M-S (0-10, 0-5) will play at West Sioux on Jan. 19, host MMCRU in a makeup game on Jan. 20 and play MMCRU again at Marcus on Jan. 23.

• Stats for H-LP

Stats for the Hawks' game with Harris-Lake Park on Jan. 5 are as follows.

Scoring: Jayden Leth 9, Josh Cruz 7, George Vargas 4, Lawton Schiphoff 3 and Bradley Van Beek 2.

Rebounds: Vargas 8, Van Beek 5, Cruz and Leth 4, Schiphoff 3, Alex Billings and Carter Dolphin 1.

Assists: Cruz and Leth 2.

Steals: Cruz 5, Vargas 3, Van Beek 2, Billings, Leth and Schiphoff 1.

Block: Kolby Douma 1.

Team: FG 10-of-43; FT 2-of-3; Rebounds: 26; Assists: 5; Steals 13; Turnovers 25.