No. 6 Hawks hit first road bump of season
Conner Hill carries offensive burden with 21 points in loss to HOIC rival Gilbert
Is No. 6-ranked (Class 2A) South Hamilton happy its perfect season chugged to a halt at the hands of Gilbert, 55-54, Friday night? Of course not. But other than that lofty ranking that will most likely expire, no significant damage was inflicted. The Hawks still lead the Heart of Iowa Conference and they now know they’re not invincible, something that could only help them as the season progresses.
“Sometimes you’ve got to experience a game like this in order to bring you back down to reality a little bit and expose you in some areas that you know you have to get better at,” South Hamilton head coach Nathan Hill said. “You can make excuses or you can look at it and say, ‘Yeah, you know what, the better team won. We got outplayed.'”
Gilbert (7-3, 6-2 HOIC) was able to pull the upset and win for the fifth time in its last six games by slowing down South Hamilton with its 1-2-2 press, by frustrating all-state senior Collin Hill with one double team after another and by answering every run by the Hawks with a bucket, most often a 3-pointer, which they made seven of in all.
“They were just scrappier than we were for most of the game,” Nathan Hill conceded. “You have to give them a lot of credit.”
The Tigers had three players score in double figures; Will Turner led the way with 15, Schuyler Hop pitched in 12, six of them coming on two second-half dagger 3-pointers to halt South Hamilton’s momentum, and Steven Lawrence added 10.
An offensive rebound and put-back by Lawrence with 30 seconds remaining gave the Tigers the lead for good. South Hamilton (9-1, 7-1 HOIC) had a chance to take back the lead with 10 seconds left on a deep 3-point attempt by Conner Hill, but it missed the mark.
Following a missed free throw by Lawrence and a quick push into the front court, the Hawks had one last chance to win coming out of a timeout with 2.1 ticks to go. But Gilbert kept the shackles on Conner Hill as he streaked towards the corner and forced Collin Hill to take a contested 3-pointer from well beyond the arc out top that clanged off the front of the rim as time expired.
Conner Hill, a sophomore shooting guard, carried South Hamilton for stretches of the game, including when the Hawks dug themselves an eight-point deficit one minute into the final period. He finished with a game-high 21 points, six on back-to-back bombs from well beyond the arc that put his team out front, 51-49, with four minutes left.
“He hit some big shots and carried us for a while,” Nathan Hill said of his youngest son. “He doesn’t like to lose … we’re starting to see him just play.”
Logan Peters ended a more than four-minute field goal drought on a drive to the bucket that turned into a three-point play to ignite the surge that brought South Hamilton back into contention. He finished with five points, as he was relegated to the bench for sizable stretches because of foul trouble.
Collin Hill added 17 points, but struggled with his shot.
“This is probably the first time this year that I’ve seen (Collin) put too much pressure on himself rather than just play,” Nathan Hill said. “As a leader you try to do too much at times and it’s hard to fault a kid for doing that.”
Gilbert outscored South Hamilton 18-10 in the second quarter to take a 32-30 halftime lead. The Tigers scored the final five points of the third quarter in the last 60 seconds to take a 46-41 edge in the final eight minutes.
South Hamilton won’t have time to sulk, not if it wants to be competitive on Tuesday when it travels to second-ranked (1A) Gladbrook-Reinbeck. It will be a chance to see two of the state’s premier players in Collin Hill and Rebels’ all-state guard Joe Smoldt, the leading scorer in all classes at 29 points per game.
“Now this is an opportunity to knock off a (highly) ranked team, we can play the other role,” Nathan Hill said. “(But) we have to play much better than we did (Friday night).”
Gladbrook-Reinbeck suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday to Jesup, 65-61.
Gilbert 55, South Hamilton 54
Friday at Gilbert
South Hamilton (9-1, 7-1 HOIC) — Marco Balderas 2 2-2 7, Cole Berg 1 2-2 4, Logan Klemp 0 0-0 0, Logan Peters 2 1-1 5, Collin Hill 7-24 17, Conner Hill 8 1-1 21, Cade Balvanz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 8-10 54.
Gilbert (7-3, 6-2 HOIC) — Will Greder 0 0-0 0, Matt Barragy 3 1-3 7, Steven Lawrence 4 1-1 10, Philip Roetman 0 0-00, Will Turner 6 0-0 15, Nathan Chasey 2 1-3 6, Garrison Holck 0 3-3 3, Cody Dvorak 0 2-2 2, Schuyler Hop 5 0-0 12, Mason Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 8-12 55.
So. Hamilton 20 10 11 13 — 54
Gilbert 14 18 14 9 — 55
3-point field goals — SH 6 (Con. Hill 4, Col. Hill, Balderas); GIL 7 (Turner 3, Hop 2, Lawrence, Chasey). Rebounds — SH 17 (Col. Hill 7). Steals — SH 7 (Berg 4). Assists — SH 14 (Balderas 7, Col. Hill 3). Team fouls — SH 12, GIL 12. Fouled out — SH: Peters.