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New-look Hawks start slow, fall to Saydel

JEWELL – As much as Tony Woodall would like to see the maturation of his South Hamilton girls’ basketball team move at warp speed, he understands that patience will be needed as he roams the sideline this winter.

With a brand new starting five and a roster filled with inexperienced players, the Hawks’ head coach accepts that there will be growing pains.

Rome wasn’t built in a day either.

The struggles at both ends of the floor were clear in South Hamilton’s season opener against Saydel on Coach Jim Marsh Court Tuesday night. The Eagles raced out to a 15-2 lead after one quarter and were never threatened in a 52-28 Heart of Iowa Conference victory.

South Hamilton (0-1) missed its first 11 shots from the field and avoided a first-quarter goose egg courtesy of a pair of free throws by MaKayla Tapper. The Hawks’ first field goal of the season came on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Diana Garcia 23 seconds into the second quarter.

Bree Hodnefield knocked down the team’s first bucket inside the arc from the right elbow with 5:55 to go in the first half.

“It’s a learning process because none of these kids have had much varsity time,” Woodall said. “We understand that.”

Saydel forward Cassie Chubb led all scorers with 18 points, 11 of them coming in the first half to help the Eagles build a 37-11 advantage.

Hodnefield led South Hamilton with nine points. Tapper, Anna Moss, Autymn Olson and Brittany Spindler all finished with four.

Looking on the bright side, South Hamilton played a much better second half and outscored Saydel 17-15. The players settled down and slowed down at the offensive end of the floor. Wild shots were replaced by patience, ball movement and dribble drives that opened up some scoring opportunities.

Defensively, the Hawks applied the pressure and gave the Eagles fewer wide open looks.

“We emphasized patience (at halftime),” Woodall said. “We told the girls that this isn’t hot potato … square up and look for your teammates. Then we came back on defense and found the ball. In the first half, we had no clue where it was at.”

Both teams were foul happy, which led to 38 whistles and 43 free throws. But neither squad was able to take advantage; Saydel finished 9 of 24 at the stipe (38 percent) and South Hamilton went 7 of 19 (37 percent).

The Hawks put together a six-point spurt midway through the fourth quarter, keyed by back-to-back baskets by Olson.

South Hamilton will return to its home floor Tuesday night when it hosts Prairie City-Monroe at 6 p.m.

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