JEFFERSON — A fast start and strong end here Tuesday night kept the 10th-ranked (Class 2A) South Hamilton boys’ basketball team undefeated.

With hefty contributions from a number of players, the Hawks outscored Greene County 47-30 in the first and fourth quarters en route to a 67-63 victory in Heart of Iowa Conference play.

“It was a great high school basketball game,” South Hamilton head coach Nathan Hill said. “We jumped on them in the first quarter, but they have too good of players to totally shut them down. We were down by as many as nine points in the third (quarter) and we could have folded, but our guys were determined to keep fighting.”

It didn’t hurt that Hawks’ swingman Collin Hill continued to play like one of the state’s best players. The 6-foot-6 senior scored 12 points in the contest’s initial eight minutes and poured in a game-high 31 to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Hill splashed in three 3-pointers, a sign that his outside touch is beginning to round into form.

“Collin had a huge night,” Nathan Hill said of his eldest son who was a rock down the stretch with 11 points in the final period. “I thought he was as good as I’ve seen him in a long time on the offensive end.”

But it wasn’t a one-man show.

Logan Klemp contributed 13 points and six rebounds for South Hamilton (5-0, 4-0 HOIC), and Marco Balderas connected for 11 points to go along with two steals. And then there was sophomore Logan Peters; he scored just six points, but had 10 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals.

“Logan Peters had a big night,” Nathan Hill said.

Conner Hill added five points and, maybe more importantly, did a solid job of containing Rams’ leader Trey Tucker in the second half. Tucker finished with 27 points, but just 10 of them came after the break.

Wade Adcock chipped in 16 points for Greene County (5-2, 4-1 HOIC), which lost inside the conference for the first time. Nathan Hill was happy to get out of town unscathed.

“Greene County is going to give a lot of teams problems,” he said. “They have a lot of guys that can shoot to go along with some scrappy play on defense.”

So. Hamilton 67, Greene Cty. 63

Tuesday at Jefferson

South Hamilton (5-0, 4-0 HOIC) — Marco Balderas 4 1-1 11, Cole Berg 0 1-2 1, Logan Klemp 5 2-2 13, Colton Coy 0 0-0 0, Logan Peters 2 2-4 6, Collin Hill 13 2 31, Conner Hill 2 0-1 5, Wes Wynkoop 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 8-14 67.

Greene County (5-2, 4-1 HOIC) — Trey Hinote 3 0-0 7, Trey Tucker 10 3-4 27, Chase Stoline 0 0-0 0, Calvin Skalla 0 0-0 0, Tommy Jacobsen 3 0-0 7, Lance Hughes 2 1-2 6, Wade Adcock 6 4-4 16. Totals: 24 8-10 63.

So. Hamilton 26 8 12 21 — 67

Greene Cty. 17 16 17 13 — 63

3-point field goals — SH 7 (Col. Hill 3, Balderas 2, Con. Hill); GC 7 (Tucker 4, Hinote, Jacobsen, Hughes). Rebounds — SH 29 (Peters 10, Klemp 6, Col. Hill 6). Steals — SH 4 (Balderas 2, Peters 2). Assists — SH 23 (Peters 10, Col. Hill 4). Team fouls — SH 11, GC 15. Fouled out — GC: Adcock.