by Scott Sacry
The Hamilton girls and boys basketball teams hosted Dillon on Saturday, February 5th. The Dillon boys came in as the No. 2 ranked team in Class A by 406mtsports.com, while Dillon’s girls were ranked No. 3. The girls started the show and Hamilton got down early and was never able to come back and lost, 52-41. Dillon’s full court press frustrated the Lady Broncs early and forced uncharacteristic turnovers by Hamilton. Dillon jumped out to a 14-6 lead after the first quarter. Hamilton fought back in the second quarter and trailed 15-16 with 3:08 left in the half, but Dillon went on a 9-0 run to end the half and grabbed a 25-15 lead. Hamilton wasn’t able to cut into the deficit in the third quarter and was down 25-35 going into the fourth. The Lady Broncs were down 25-40 early in the fourth quarter, then made a bit of a rally. With under two minutes left in the game, Taryn Searle assisted Mya Winkler, who put in a left-handed layup to pull Hamilton within six points, 41-47. That was as close as they got as Dillon scored the game’s final five points to seal the victory. Layne Kearns led Hamilton with 13 points, Taryn Searle had nine, Mya Winkler had six, and Taylor McCarthy added five.
The Hamilton boys didn’t fare any better against the Beavers, losing 43-60. Dillon jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead and the Broncs played catch up for the rest of the night. In the first half, the Broncs couldn’t get in a rhythm on offense, outside of three 3-pointers by Cole Dickemore. Cold shooting and an aggressive Dillon defense led to a 16-26 deficit for Hamilton at halftime. Hamilton came out after the half more aggressive on offense but was never able to cut into the lead or mount any sort of comeback against a talented Dillon side, and lost by 17 points. Cole Dickmore was able to find his range and led Hamilton with 17 points. Eli Taylor, Colter Kirkland and Asher Magness all had eight in support.
The Hamilton girls and boys traveled to East Helena on Tuesday, February 1st, and both teams came away with wins. The Hamilton girls outscored East Helena 31-24 in the second half to squeak out a 45-38 victory. Mya Winkler led Hamilton with 16 points, followed by Layne Kearns with nine, and Lavana Wetzel added eight. The boys jumped out to a 26-9 halftime lead and held on for a 51-40 victory. Tyson Rostad led the way with 14 points, Cole Dickemore had 10, and Asher Magness had seven.