And then South Hamilton stepped onto the floor with the Norsemen and slammed on the breaks.

The Hawks clamped on Roland-Story from the opening tip and never lost their defensive aggression in a 57-38 rout in a Heart of Iowa Conference boys’ basketball game on Coach Jim Marsh Court Tuesday night.

South Hamilton (2-1, 2-0 HOIC) outscored the Norsemen 15-3 in the first quarter and limited them to just 24 percent shooting, including 19 percent from behind the 3-point arc, all of which put a smile on the face of head coach Matt Juber.

“This is a big win for our confidence and I’m really proud of how the boys earned this win,” Juber said. “It wasn’t always pretty, but our execution defensively was unwavering and that is something we will continue to build from. The guys are really buying into being a really good defensive team and that’s all I can ask for as a coach.”

Hawks’ senior Cade Balvanz (30) looks for a path to the basket against Roland-Story on Tuesday in Jewell. He scored 14 points. Photo by Angela Hewitt

Roland-Story leaders Dylan Ihle and Sam Skaar were limited to three and four points, respectively.

Meanwhile, South Hamilton received strong offensive showings from Doran Lutjen (15 points), Cade Balvanz (14) and Freddie Lewis (11), who combined to pour in two more points than Roland-Story (3-1, 1-1 HOIC).

“We came out in the third (quarter) and spaced the floor well and got Balvanz some opportunities in the paint,” Juber said. “That really opened some things up for the other guys. Doran made some plays on the baseline and Freddie did a nice job of taking what the defense gave us and stepping up offensively.”

Ahead 24-15 at the half, South Hamilton slowly inched away from Roland-Story over the final 16 minutes.

Quinton Grove continued to do a little bit of everything for the Hawks with six points, seven rebounds and three assists. Aaron Hegland added five points, and Carter Hewitt came off the bench to provide four points and five boards.

Lutjen and Kyler Hodnefield combined for seven steals.

South Hamilton put in work at the free throw line as well. The Hawks hit 18 of 24 attempts and outscored Roland-Story by 10 at the charity stripe.

S. Hamilton 57, Roland-Story 38

Tuesday at Jewell

Roland-Story (3-1, 1-1 HOIC) — Adam McIlrath 2 5-6 9, Caleb Markwardt 0 0-0 0, Dylan Ihle 1 0-0 3, Nic Hansen 3 1-1 8, Nolan Faber 3 1-2 9, Sam Skaar 2 0-0 4, Wyatt Bunn 0 0-0 0, Zach Twedt 2 1-2 5. Totals: 3 8-11 38.

South Hamilton (2-1, 2-0 HOIC) — Aaron Hegland 2 0-1 5, Brock Galetich 0 1-2 1, Cade Balvanz 6 2-2 14, Carter Hewitt 1 2-4 4, Doran Lutjen 5 5-6 15, Freddie Lewis 3 3-4 11, Kyler Hodnefield 0 1-1 4, Quinton Grove 1 4-4 6, Tycin Barkema 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 18-24 57.

Rol-Story 3 12 13 10 — 38

S. Ham. 15 9 16 17 — 57

3-point field goals — R-S 4 (Faber 2, Ihle, Hansen); SH 3 (Lewis 2, Hegland). Rebounds — SH 29 (Grove 7, Hewitt 5). Steals — SH 11 (Lutjen 4, Hodnefield 3). Assists — SH 6 (Grove 3). Turnovers — SH 12. Team fouls — R-S 20, SH 16. Fouled out — R-S: McIlrath.