Hamilton Heights lost a tough Sectional 27 semi-final game to New Castle 55-52 Friday at the Trojans’ fieldhouse.
New Castle led 16-13 after the first quarter and 30-24 at halftime, but the Huskies’ defense took over in the third quarter, allowing the Trojans just four points. That allowed Heights to take a 37-34 lead. Gus Etchison scored seven points in that period, this after scoring eight in the first.
The Huskies led by nine at one point during the fourth, but New Castle came back, thanks to the efforts of Luke Bumbalough, who poured in 17 points in that quarter. Bumbalough finished the game with 32 points to lead all scorers.
Etchison led Heights with 21 points, while Hudson Hochstedler scored 20 points, including three 3-pointers. Etchison collected eight rebounds, with Kray Leininger grabbing six and Issiac Hickok five.
The Huskies finished their season 15-8.
New Castle 55, Hamilton Heights 52
Heights FG FT TP PF
Gus Etchison 9-22 1-1 21 3
Brent Pennington 1-5 0-0 2 2
AJ Field 1-4 1-2 4 2
Kray Leininger 1-4 0-0 2 0
Hudson Hochstedler 7-10 3-4 20 3
Issiac Hickok 1-3 0-1 3 2
Cory Vonfeldt 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 20-48 5-8 52 12
Score by Quarters
New Castle 16 14 4 21 – 55
Heights 13 11 13 15 – 52
Heights 3-point shooting (7-18) Hochstedler 3-5, Etchison 2-7, Hickok 1-3, Field 1-1, Pennington 0-2.
Heights rebounds (28) Etchison 8, Leininger 6, Hickok 5, Pennington 4, Field 3, Hochstedler 2.