south hamilton’s jonathan drake dribbles up the court against Roland-Story on Friday in Story City. (DFJ photo by Angela Hewitt)

STORY CITY — The South Hamilton boys earned a signature win over No. 6 (Class 2A) Roland-Story last Friday in what head coach Matt Juber described had the “feeling of a 12-round fight.”

The Hawks put an end to the Norsemen’s 30-game Heart of Iowa Conference win streak with a 63-55 road victory, thanks in large part to balanced scoring and pinpoint three-point shooting accuracy.

Ty Koehnk led South Hamilton (10-1 overall, 5-1 in the HOIC) with 17 points. Reece Ricke added 15, Ryland Ubben 12, Jonathan Drake nine and Owen Renaud eight.

All are seniors for the Hawks, who have been anchored by their veteran leadership this season. Friday was no different.

“First and foremost, what a great atmosphere for a high school basketball game,” Juber said. “And the game itself did not disappoint. I’m very proud of the boys for hanging tough and really banding together in the second half to make a run and finish the game with a win.

“The balance we had was really good to see. We don’t have one guy that is going to win us a game, but as a group, when we share the ball (21 assists) like this, we have plenty of guys who can score.”

South Hamilton made 10 of its 19 three-point attempts, with Koehnk, Ricke and Drake swishing three each.

“We had a lot of guys step up in the second half during the run we made and then to close it out,” Juber said. “Owen had some big-time points in the paint from halfcourt offense. Jonathan, Ty and Reece all hit some absolutely huge threes for us. Ryland was strapped with foul trouble, but came in the fourth quarter and had a couple of big paint baskets that kept us in front.”

A 19-9 third-period run erased a four-point halftime deficit and put the Hawks in the driver’s seat. South Hamilton was actually slow out of the gates in the second half before charging ahead late in the third quarter.

“The first half was a classic game of runs,” Juber said. “We got out early. They answered and pulled ahead. We fought back but then gave up a couple of baskets going into the half.

“Coming out of the half, things almost got away from us. We were down by eight or nine points about midway through the third, but we turned it up defensively and were really efficient on offense.”

Ricke added six rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks for South Hamilton, which debuted at No. 9 in the IHSAA rankings on Monday. Koehnk dished out five assists.

R-S star Jonovan Wilkinson had a game-high 27 points, but Juber praised his squad’s defensive adjustments — especially in the second half, when Wilkinson managed only eight.

“Big credit to Noah Gunderson, Kolby Hodnefield, and Nick Severseike for the effort they gave in slowing down Wilkinson,” Juber said. “We went to a box-and-one, and our goal was just to wear him down. We just kept running those three guys at him and I think (it paid dividends) in the fourth quarter.”

This was the Hawks’ first win over the Norsemen (9-1, 6-1) since 2021.

Juber also took time to recognize Perry, a fellow HOIC member, after the school’s devastating shooting incident last week.

“My heart goes out to the community of Perry for the tragic event that happened,” Juber said. “Things get very real when something like that hits so close to home. We feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to play our game, but also, recognize that basketball is just a game.

“It was an honor to be able to show our support for the Perry community.”