JEWELL — Locked in a one-point game at the half, the eighth-ranked (Class 2A) South Hamilton boys’ basketball team took control over the final 16 minutes and won its eighth game of the season on Coach Jim Marsh Court Tuesday night.

A big second half from Cole Berg didn’t hurt.

Berg, a senior guard, reeled off all 14 of his points after the intermission and the Hawks disposed of Heart of Iowa Conference rival North Polk, 66-52. South Hamilton outscored the Comets 36-23 following the break.

“We got all we could handle from North Polk,” South Hamilton head coach Nathan Hill said. “I thought in the first half we just weren’t quite up to game speed. We weren’t communicating and doing some of the little things. In the second half we came out and really picked up our intensity.”

Once again, a balanced offense was key for South Hamilton (8-1, 5-1 ), which had four players score in double figures. Conner Hill led the way with 19 points, while Logan Peters (11 points) and Quinton Grove (10 points) followed behind Berg. Cade Balvanz had just two points, but the Hawks’ center was the team’s best distributor with six assists.

South Hamilton shot 62 percent from the floor and piled up 15 assists.

North Polk (2-5, 2-4 HOIC) hung around by making seven 3-pointers, four of them coming from Colten Parkins who led all scorers with 24 points. Braden Hoksbergen joined him in double figures with 13 points.

South Hamilton 66, North Polk 52

Tuesday at Jewell

North Polk (2-5, 2-4 HOIC) — Cameron Market 2 1-2 5, Braden Hoksbergen 5 2-2 13, Colten Parkins 9 2-2 24, Coby Bouchard 0 0-0 0, Jevin Sullivan 3 0-0 8, Thomas Jones 0 0-0 0, Sam Carstensen 1 0-0 2, Luke Maring 0 0-0 0, Quinten Sommers 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 5-6 52.

South Hamilton (8-1, 5-1 HOIC) — Aaron Hegland 2 0-0 4, Carter Hewitt 0 0-0 0, Cole Berg 6 2-3 14, Sam Lewis 1 2-2 4, Doran Lutjen 1 0-0 2, Logan Peters 5 0-1 11, Quinton Grove 3 4-4 10, Conner Hill 7 4-6 19, Cade Balvanz 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 12-16 66.

North Polk 13 16 11 12 — 52

S. Hamilton 13 17 17 19 — 66

3-point field goals — NP 7 (Parkins 4, Sullivan 2, Hoksbergen); SH 2 (Hill, Peters). Rebounds — SH 22 (Berg 7, Balvanz 5). Steals — SH 5 (Grove 2). Assists — SH 15 (Balvanz 6, Hill 3). Team fouls — NP 16, SH 12. Fouled out — NP: Carstensen.