Behind a monstrous performance from sophomore Aaron Graves and a second-half surge, Southeast Valley extended its run of wins to seven straight and ended South Hamilton’s at five, 49-41.

The Jaguars (7-1) outscored South Hamilton (5-2) 15-5 in the third quarter and led the remainder of the way.

Graves, a 6-foot-4 forward, poured in a game-high 26 points and buried two second-half 3-pointers to keep the Hawks at bay.

“It was nice to get back in action, but we didn’t get the result that we wanted,” South Hamilton head coach Matt Juber said. “Ultimately, we had too many breakdowns down the stretch … and didn’t consistently have five guys boxing out. The great thing about that is that all of those things are things we can control, so those are easy fixes if we get after it and focus on doing those little things.”

South Hamilton guard Doran Lutjen (11) lets loose a long jumper against Southeast Valley on Friday. Photo by Angela Hewitt

South Hamilton led 13-8 after one quarter and 27-23 at the intermission. But it was too much Graves over the final 16 minutes.

Cade Balvanz paced the Hawks with 16 points, while Quinton Grove dropped in eight points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Grove also dished out four assists.

Southeast Valley packed it in defensively and limited Balvanz’s touches in the second half.

“We need to find a way to be more aggressive from the wings so teams can’t pack it in like they did (Friday night),” Juber said.

Brock Galetich and Doran Lutjen both chipped in five points in the loss. Kyler Hodnefield finished with four points and three steals.

SE Valley 49, S. Hamilton 41

Friday at Jewell

South Hamilton (5-2) — Brock Galetich 2 0-0 5, Aaron Hegland 1 0-0 3, Carter Hewitt 0 0-0 0, Doran Lutjen 2 1-2 5, Quinton Grove 4 0-0 8, Freddie Lewis 0 0-2 0, Kyler Hodnefield 1 1-2 4, Cade Balvanz 7 2-3 16. Totals: 17 4-9 41.

SEV 8 15 15 11 — 49

SH 13 14 5 9 — 41

3-point field goals — SH 3 (Galetich, Hegland, Hodnefield). Rebounds — SH 28 (Grove 13). Steals — SH 10 (Hodnefield 3). Assists — SH 9 (Grove 4). Team fouls — SEV 10, SH 12. Fouled out — none.