STORY CITY - With a goose egg on its side of the scoreboard after one quarter of play, the South Hamilton boys' basketball team was forced to play a losing game of catch up here Friday night.
Methodical but efficient, Roland-Story (16-3, 14-3 HOIC) built a 15-point lead after 8 minutes of play and never saw its lead dip below double digits in a 61-50 victory over its Heart of Iowa Conference rival.
"It was a big hole to try to come back from, especially against a team that's pretty conservative like Roland-Story," South Hamilton head coach Jeff Steines said.
Ryan Skaar rattled in three of his five 3-point baskets during Roland-Story's early surge and he finished with a game-high 23 points. Tim Schlorholtz had 10, Josh Seydell eight, and Zach Hovick, Gibson Schnurr and Evan Johnson all added six.
Trevor Ullestad had a pair of 3s late, and he and Lucas Olson both had four triples. They scored 14 points apiece to pace the Hawks (5-15, 5-12 HOIC).
Matt Hislop contributed nine points in the loss, and Josh Doering had four points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
Fact Box
Roland-Story 61, South Hamilton 50
South Hamilton (5-15, 5-12 HOIC) - Trevor Ullestad 5 0-0 14, Austin Heeren 1 0-0 2, John Hegland 2 0-0 4, Josh Doering 2 0-0 4, Lucas Olson 5 0-0 14, Matt Hislop 4 1-1 9, Ross Enderson 1 0-0 3. Totals: 20 1-1 50.
Roland-Story (16-3, 14-3 HOIC) - Evan Johnson 2 0-0 6, Ryan Skaar 7 4-8 23, Zach Hovick 3 0-0 6, Tim Schlorholtz 3 4-4 10, Gibson Schnurr 3 0-0 6, Josh Seydell 4 0-0 8, Austin Foster 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 8-14 61.
South Hamilton 0 18 13 19-50
Roland-Story15 15 20 11-61
3-point field goals - SH 9 (Ullestad 4, Olson 4, Enderson); R-S 7 (Skaar 5, Johnson 2). Rebounds - SH 24 (Doering 13). Steals - SH 5 (Enderson 3). Assists - SH 15 (Doering 5). Team fouls - SH 16, R-S 5. Fouled out - none.