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REJECTED

Hawks spoil Norsemen’s perfect HOIC bid

South Hamilton center Carter Hewitt (11) swats the shot attempt of Roland-Story’s Adam McIlrath during the second half on Tuesday in Story City. Hewitt scored 21 points in the Hawks 55-50 win. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

STORY CITY — It was probably too little, too late in the chase for the Heart of Iowa Conference championship. Still, the sly grin that Carter Hewitt directed toward the South Hamilton bench after his made free throw with 5.9 seconds remaining Tuesday night exposed how much the win would mean.

The Hawks wanted this one. Bad.

They got it too.

Despite a shaky performance at the free throw line, particularly over the final 2:30 when it was trying to put the game on ice, South Hamilton managed to hang on and knock off league-leading Roland-Story, 55-50, in a substate-type atmosphere rarely seen in a COVID-19 season.

Hewitt delivered the final punch — two free throws that made it a two-possession game in the closing moments. It was fitting that the 6-foot-5 senior center and future UNI football player was in the spotlight late. He carried the Hawks throughout, knocking down 9 of 15 shots en route to a game-high 21 points.

South Hamilton forward Clayton Ubben (center) comes out of a scrum with the ball against Roland-Story on Tuesday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“Since they got us the first time, there was a lot of energy in our practices getting ready for this game,” Hewitt, who also had five rebounds and three blocks, said. “We were all really pumped up for it.”

South Hamilton (12-5, 6-3 HOIC) handed Roland-Story (13-3, 8-1 HOIC) its first conference loss, but the Norsemen still control their own destiny over the final two weeks of the season. Still, the Hawks were looking to feed off the energy from the larger-than-usual crowd and secure a signature win prior to the postseason.

“It’s huge, but it’s not our biggest goal,” Hewitt said. “If we play like that every time, we’ll be a really tough team to take out.”

Clayton Ubben scored 13 points in the paint playing primarily beside Hewitt. The Hawks were methodical offensively and fed their twin towers whenever possible. They took just three 3-point shots in the contest.

Everything went right early on, as South Hamilton sprinted out to a 17-12 lead after one quarter and 29-17 edge at the half. Freddie Lewis go the ball rolling with a pair of short jumpers on the opening two possessions of the game and the Hawks canned seven of their first eight attempts.

South Hamilton’s Freddie Lewis (front) attempts to score on a reverse layup during the second half against Roland-Story on Tuesday. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“It helps when you come out and get what you want offensively on those first couple possessions,” South Hamilton head coach Matt Juber said. “We came out and executed very well offensively, and that gave us that spark defensively to really dig in.”

A turnaround baby hook by Hewitt early in the third quarter extended South Hamilton’s lead to 16, but Roland-Story answered with a 9-2 run over the final 4:30 to get back to within single digits. The spurt reached 13-2 to trim the Hawks’ advantage to 37-32 early in the fourth.

“I was expecting that,” Hewitt said of Roland-Story’s surge. “It’s always like that down here. Always a close game and a good fight.”

Back-to-back baskets by Ubben increased South Hamilton’s lead to 47-38 with 2:45 left, but then hack-a-Hawk began. A 53 percent free throw shooting team on the season, South Hamilton lived up to its reputation by missing four consecutive freebies and that allowed the Norsemen to pull within three, 47-44, with 1:10 remaining.

Over the final 2:30, South Hamilton missed nine free throws and made good on only 8 of 22 (36 percent) in the contest.

South Hamilton reserve Carter Balvanz celebrates on the bench Tuesday night. DFJ photo/Troy Banning

“Everybody knows we’re not a great free throw shooting team right now, so teams are going to take their chances,” Juber said. “If we make 60 percent of our free throws, we win this one going away.”

Landen Skartvedt and Hewitt both made 1 of 2 free throws in the final minute to keep it at a two-possession game. Roland-Story’s Sam Skaar drilled a long 3 from the wing to close the gap to 53-50 with seven seconds to go before Hewitt ended the nail biting.

Austin Busch scored eight points and Lewis finished with seven in the win. Tycin Barkema rained in the Hawks’ only 3 in the first half and produced five points and five boards.

Adam McIlrath led Roland-Story with 14 points. Jonovan Wilkinson (12) and Luke Patton (11) also scored in double figures.

The Norsemen weren’t exactly stellar the charity stripe. They made just 38 percent of their attempts (5 of 13).

DFJ photo/Troy Banning

S. Hamilton 55, Roland-Story 50

Tuesday at Story City

South Hamilton (12-5, 6-3 HOIC) — Freddie Lewis 2 3-6 7, Tycin Barkema 2 0-4 5, Carter Hewitt 9 3-4 21, Austin Busch 4 0-2 8, Landen Skartvedt 0 1-2 1, Kyler Hodnefield 0 0-1 0, Clayton Ubben 6 1-3 13. Totals: 23 8-22 55.

Roland-Story (13-3, 8-1 HOIC) — Dhruv Patel 0 0-0 0, Jonovan Wilkinson 5 1-5 12, Nolan Faber 1 0-0 2, Adam McIlrath 5 4-6 14, Sam Skaar 4 0-0 9, Luke Patton 4 0-2 11, Will Bunn 0 0-0 0, Kale Lande 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 5-13 50.

S. Ham 17 12 8 18 — 55

Rol-Story 12 5 11 22 — 50

3-point field goals — SH 1 (Barkema); R-S 5 (Patton 3, Wilkinson, Skaar). Rebounds — SH 25 (Barkema 5, Hewitt 5, Hodnefield 5). Steals — SH 6 (Hodnefield 2, Ubben 2). Assists — SH 12 (Hodnefield 4). Turnovers — SH 7. Team fouls — SH 16, R-S 20. Fouled out — SH: Hodnefield.

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