Stevensville’s Shilo McLain Lampi. Kearns had a season high 30 points for Hamilton. Photo by Scott Sacry.
by Scott Sacry
The Hamilton and Stevensville basketball teams met in Stevensville on Tuesday, January 24th. The boys took the court first. The No. 4 ranked (406mtsports.com) Broncs jumped out to a 15-2 first quarter lead and were up 38-14 at halftime. They continued the onslaught in the second half and won comfortably, 73-30. Cole “deadeye” Dickemore led all scorers with 15 points, followed by Max Cianflone with 11, and Asher Magness with 10. For Stevensville, Tad Tackes led with 12 points, Kellan Beller had 7, and Hunter Gum added 5.
The girls capped off the night. The game started evenly and with seven minutes left in the 2nd quarter Hamilton held a slim 22-19 lead. From that point on it was all Hamilton as they finished out the quarter on a 26-7 run and led 48-26 at halftime. The 2nd half was more of the same as Hamilton rolled to a 84-49 victory.
Hamilton’s defense was solid as always, and on offense they were on fire. Conversely, Stevensville’s offense went cold and Hamilton’s defensive pressure confounded them. Hamilton’s Layne Kearns had one of her best offensive games of the season, scoring 30 points, Taryn Searle had 17 points, and Taylor McCarthy added 10. For Stevensville, Cambree Praast had 15 points, followed by Claire Hutchison with 9 and Addi Drye with 8.
The Hamilton boys and girls hosted Frenchtown on Thursday. On January 6th, the Hamilton boys lost to Frenchtown by 16 points, and Hamilton hoped to avenge this loss. And they did. They played one of their best all around games of the year, winning 63-45 and dominating a Frenchtown squad who is one of the best Class A teams in the state. The two teams are evenly matched, but Hamilton’s stingy defense and efficient offense was the difference on this night. Hamilton forced 12 turnovers while only making two themselves. The Magness brothers had a great game, with older brother Asher scoring 21 points and grabbing 6 rebounds and younger brother Canaan scoring 12 points and snatching 10 rebounds. Hamilton’s Eli Taylor added 12 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.
The Hamilton girls also looked to avenge an earlier loss to Frenchtown, who beat them by 12 points on January 6th. Hamilton started slow and trailed 5-11 after the 1st quarter. Hamilton rallied in the second quarter, outscoring Frenchtown 22-13 to lead 27-24 at halftime. Hamilton went cold in the 3rd quarter and found themselves down 34-40 with 5:46 left to play. From that point on it was all Hamilton, as they turned up the defensive intensity and went on a 9-0 run to close out the game and get the 43-40 victory. The dynamic duo of Taryn Searle and Layne Kearns led the scoring with 18 points each. Down the stretch, a Kearns three-pointer gave Hamilton a 41-40 lead and a Taryn Searle steal and two good free throws sealed the win.