And they’ll put a scare into every opponent they face.

With Cole Berg sidelined with a knee injury for the time being, the Hawks turned to senior leaders Conner Hill and Logan Peters to carry the torch in the season opener against South Central Calhoun Tuesday night, and they were happy to pick up the slack.

Hill and Peters combined to score 49 points and yank down 18 rebounds to propel South Hamilton to a convincing 72-58 victory over the Titans on Coach Jim Marsh Court. Hill put up 27 and 10, including 13 points during the second quarter, and Peters cashed in for 22 and 8.

“They are the two that need to carry us right now with Cole out, but we need to get a little better continuity as a team,” South Hamilton head coach Nathan Hill said. “I thought it was a sloppy game on our part, but I think that’s to be expected early in the season.”

Cade Balvanz pulls up for a short jumper against South Central Calhoun on Tuesday. DFJ photo/Tracy Runneberg

Fourteen turnovers didn’t sit well with Coach Hill. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with his team’s defensive performance either.

Still, he’ll take a convincing victory over a quality opponent.

“Right now we need to really buy in to playing better team defense and if we can do that and clean up some silly turnovers, I think we’ll be just fine,” he said. “I have to give credit to South Central Calhoun. They have all their players back from a season ago and I really think they’re going to have a nice season.”

South Hamilton (1-0) outscored South Central Calhoun (1-1) 25-16 in the second quarter to take command for good. Peters took over for Conner Hill in the third with 11 of his points. The two combined for 17 field goals and both shot 50 percent from the floor.

Cade Balvanz gave the Hawks a strong inside presence with 10 points and eight rebounds. Sam Lewis also produced in key spots and finished with six points and eight boards.

“Cade Balvanz had a good night (and) I thought Sam Lewis had a nice game,” Nathan Hill said. “We had a number of other guys that provided us solid minutes off the bench as well.”

Zane Neubaum led the Titans with 14 points.

South Hamilton 72, SC Calhoun 58

Tuesday at Jewell

South Central Calhoun (1-1) — Landon Schleisman 3 2-2 11, Matthew Clark 3 0-0 8, Cole Corey 0 0-0 0, Zane Neubaum 5 2-2 14, Jared Birks 5 2-6 12, Jacob Nicholson 1 0-0 2, Sam Musselman 0 0-0 0, Homer Matz 2 2-2 6, Brennan Holder 2 0-0 5. Totals: 21 8-12 58.

South Hamilton (1-0) — Aaron Hegland 1 0-0 2, Carter Hewitt 0 0-0 0, Sam Lewis 3 0-0 6, Doran Lutjen 1 0-0 2, Logan Peters 8 3-5 22, Quinton Grove 1 1-2 3, Zeke Balderas 0 0-0 0, Conner Hill 9 9-12 27, Cade Balvanz 5 0-0 10. Totals: 28 13-19 72.

SC Calhoun 13 16 15 14 — 58

S. Hamilton 13 25 17 17 — 72

3-point field goals — SCC 8 (Schleisman 3, Neubaum 2, Clark 2, Holder); SH 3 (Peters 3). Rebounds — SH 40 (Hill 10, Lewis 8, Peters 8, Balvanz 8). Steals — SH 6 (Hill 3). Assists — SH 16 (Peters 3, Grove 3, Balvanz 3). Turnovers — SCC 9, SH 14. Team fouls — SCC 17, SH 9. Fouled out — none.