By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – If there’s a theme that can be applied to this year’s Hamilton Heights boys basketball team – on and off the court – let it be this: “We will be here for you.”
The Huskies opened their season Wednesday by hosting Lebanon in an emotional game in front of a packed crowd. Heights went back-and-forth with the Tigers for the entire 32 minutes, then an extra four minutes of overtime before Hudson Hochstedler’s putback at the buzzer secured a 71-69 victory for the Huskies.
Everyone knew it would be an emotional game. Heights was playing its first game without Tony Etchison in the stands, after he lost his life in a farming accident last month. Etchison’s son Gus, now a junior, is one of the stars on the Huskies’ team.
“I knew it was going to be very hard for him, just to get that first one out of the way,” said Heights coach Chad Ballenger. “I think the second one will be hard, too. It’s just been tough for him. But he’s been grinding, and he’s got great support and our community’s been good. We’re going to keep plugging away and be there for him.”
Gus’ teammates were there for him, including at the end of the game. Etchison had already scored 41 points, and with the score tied at 69-69, was driving in with seconds left to hopefully put in the game winner.
Etchison drove in and put up a jumper that went off the left side of the rim. But Hochstedler came rushing in to grab the rebound, and put the ball back up. It swished through the net as the clock ran out to 0.0.
“I’m not that emotional of a player, but that’s the most excited I’ve been in a while,” said Hochstedler. “For the team, good start. For the Etchisons, we’re all behind them. It’s nice to have that win. It means more than just a game.”
“It was tough because there’s two guys on me about the whole game,” said Etchison. “I thought it was going in, but I’m glad Hudson got that rebound and put it in and get us that ‘W.’”
It was a hard-fought win, and not just because of the emotions involved with the game. The Huskies got off to a great start in the first quarter, but the Tigers came back with an equally great second period.
Heights led 21-11 late in the first, before a Lebanon basket finished the quarter at 21-13. In a bit of foreshadowing, the first basket of the game was a Huskies’ putback, this one from Brent Pennington.
Etchison played like a man possessed for the entire game, and wasted no time in the first quarter. He threw in three 3-pointers and went 4-of-4 from the free throw line, giving him 13 points in that period.
“That’s who he is,” said Ballenger. “My wife and I, we were talking about it. She was like, you know he’s just going to come out and light it up and be there, because that’s who he is. When the lights are on, he shines. I had a lot of conversations with Tony over the years, and he would talk about AAU and be like, when pressure was on, and the better teams, he always rose up. He always could rise up and be there, and that’s Gus.”
“I just wanted to win this game more than any game I think I’ve ever played in my life and I just wanted to make him proud,” said Gus.
Lebanon came back in the second quarter to lead 34-31 at halftime. Michael Reese finished the period with three 3-pointers to get his team in front. The Tigers rode that momentum to a 40-33 lead with 5:55 left in the third quarter, after Luke Ferrell converted a traditional three-point play.
But the Huskies blasted back on an 11-0 run that was remarkably quick. Issiac Hickok made a putback that led to an and-1, then Etchison stole the ball and scored. He then added five more points, and Hochstedler’s free throw put Heights ahead 44-40.
After that, neither team led by more than six points for the remainder of the game. The Huskies reached that lead when Etchison hit a 3 to get his team up 58-52. Lebanon’s Reese then took over, scoring eight straight points to put the Tigers up 60-58.
Two free throws each from Hickok and Etchison pushed Heights ahead 62-60, but Kobe Ottinger tied it at 62-all with a layin. That would be the score at the end of regulation.
Etchison scored the majority of the points for the Huskies in the overtime, including an and-1 that took the Heights from down two points to up one, 67-66. He added two more free throws to give the Huskies a 3-point lead, but Reese tied it up with a 3-pointer with 1:34 left, giving him 27 points for the game. There would be no more points until Hochstedler’s basket.
“You want to talk about a class individual, and talk about the epitome of high school sports,” said Ballenger. “He wants to go to MIT or Purdue. He’s going to be an engineer. He’s planned out what he wants to do and he just works his butt off. He’s a great kid. Academically, athletically, just a great individual kid.”
Etchison’s 41 points marked the third time he has reached the 40-point mark in his career. He finished the game with six 3-pointers, six steals and five rebounds. Camron Knott added 10 points and seven rebounds, including a pair of 3s.
The Huskies next play Friday, Dec. 6, when they host New Castle.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 71, LEBANON 69
(overtime)
Team FG FT TP PF
Gus Etchison 13-23 9-11 41 2
Issiac Hickok 1-4 3-3 5 5
Camron Knott 4-10 0-0 10 1
Brent Pennington 3-6 0-0 7 0
Hudson Hochstedler 2-8 1-2 5 3
Lucas Letsinger 1-2 0-0 3 0
Luke Carroll 0-1 0-0 0 3
Noah Linville 0-1 0-1 0 0
Totals 24-55 13-17 71 14
Score by Quarters
Lebanon 13 21 15 13 7 – 69
Heights 21 10 20 11 9 – 71
Heights 3-point shooting (10-26) Etchison 6-9, Knott 2-7, Pennington 1-3, Letsinger 1-2, Hickok 0-2, Hochstedler 0-2, Linville 0-1.
Heights rebounds (26) Knott 7, Etchison 5, Carroll 4, Hickok 3, Pennington 3, Hochstedler 3, Linville 1.
Hamilton Heights celebrates after Hudson Hochstedler (second from right) put in a buzzer-beating putback to give the Huskies a 71-69 overtime win against Lebanon Wednesday at the Heights gym. (Kent Graham)
Gus Etchison scored 41 points for Hamilton Heights on Wednesday. (Kent Graham)