By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – Two of this basketball season’s biggest offensive teams went at it Friday night at Hamilton Heights, as the Huskies hosted Westfield.
Both teams had things rolling early, but the Shamrocks pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 80-68 victory, giving them back-to-back wins. It also marks back-to-back wins in the longtime series, as Westfield beat Heights last season.
“It’s really like this with them every year,” said Shamrocks coach Shane Sumpter. “It’s a county game. It always comes down to the fourth quarter, it seems like. The last three or four years, that’s what it’s been.”
The Huskies took an early 8-2 lead, with Lucas Letsinger hitting a 3-pointer and Isaac Wilson adding five points (a 3 and a putback). Westfield answered that with an 8-0 run; Matthew Penley made a layin and Braden Smith nailed consecutive triples.
Smith wound up with 10 points in the quarter, hitting two putbacks in a row later in the quarter. Penley had nine points in that period, including a 3, and Luke Naas finished the quarter with a 3-pointer.
In the second quarter, Heights’ Gus Etchison got going, scoring 12 points. Etchison drained three 3s, with his second triple putting the Huskies up 36-35. But Westfield went on a 6-0 run to take a 41-36 lead and would not trail again. A Smith layin made the halftime score 43-39 in favor of the ‘Rocks.
Westfield’s lead in the third quarter was anywhere from eight points to one, which happened at the beginning of the period when Letsinger nailed another 3. The Shamrocks quickly went back up 51-45, with Cam Haffner getting Westfield back up by six.
“It went from one to six in back-to-back possessions,” said Heights coach Chad Ballenger.
Baskets by Haffner and Penley got the ‘Rocks ahead 55-47. Etchison’s 3 and Luke Carroll’s layin cut it to 55-52, but Westfield finished the quarter with layins by Nic Depasquale and Penley to lead 59-52.
“In the second half, late third quarter, early fourth, it seemed like we had a five or six-point lead, but we could never really expand that, because they’d come down and hit a shot,” said Sumpter. “I thought we were one or two baskets away from really separating ourselves, doing some things on offense that we wanted to do.”
The Shamrocks finally got that separation in the fourth quarter, with a late 7-0 run to take a 72-61 lead. Smith scored off a steal, Penley made a layin, and Smith converted a three-point play to give his team a double-digit advantage. Etchison stopped the run with a layin, but another quick 6-0 stretch clinched it for Westfield. Sumpter said that once his team started spreading the Huskies out, “we were in good shape.”
“For us to compete and hang around just says a lot,” said Ballenger. “We think that we can make a nice tournament run and that shows tonight with what we did with Westfield. We needed a few more stops.”
Smith finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Penley scored a career-high 23 points, with Haffner and Depasquale adding 10 points each. Haffner pulled eight rebounds and dished out five assists.
Etchison scored 33 points, including seven 3-pointers. With his final basket of the game in the fourth quarter, he moved past Huskies legend Kent Carson to become the Hamilton Heights all-time leading scorer. Carson’s record of 1,894 points had stood for over 50 years, now Etchison has it with 1,896 points.
“I thought tonight he did a pretty good job,” said Ballenger.” He didn’t force too much. Westfield’s a very good defensive team. It’s just nice to get it for him and he can move on now and not have that in the back of his mind. Congrats to him. Kent Carson was a heck of a player. He’s in South Alabama’s hall of fame. It’s been a longtime record.”
Letsinger drained four 3s for 12 points and Wilson scored 10 points. Etchison led the rebounds with seven, while Carroll collected six. Etchison also handed out four assists, while Carroll blocked two shots.
Westfield is 13-4 and hosts Western Boone on Tuesday. The Huskies are 11-4 and play at Noblesville on Tuesday.
WESTFIELD 80, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 68
Westfield FG FT TP PF
Braden Smith 11-19 3-3 27 3
Benji Welch 1-3 2-2 5 2
Matthew Penley 9-12 4-4 23 1
Cam Haffner 4-8 0-0 10 1
Nic Depasquale 5-11 0-0 10 1
Luke Naas 1-1 0-0 3 0
Luke Van Dyke 1-1 0-0 2 0
Trey Dorton 0-0 0-0 0 1
Kai Butterworth 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 32-55 9-9 80 9
Westfield 3-point shooting (7-15) Smith 2-5, Haffner 2-4, Welch 1-3, Naas 1-1, Penley 1-1, Depasquale 0-1.
Westfield rebounds (27) Smith 8, Haffner 8, Penley 4, Depasquale 4, Welch 2, Butterworth 1.
Heights FG FT TP PF
Gus Etchison 10-23 6-6 33 0
Noah Linville 1-2 0-0 2 2
Luke Carroll 4-13 0-0 8 2
Isaac Wilson 4-6 0-0 10 2
Lucas Letsinger 4-7 0-0 12 0
Isaac Tuma 0-1 0-0 0 1
Tillman Etchison 1-2 0-0 3 0
Totals 24-54 6-6 68 7
Heights 3-point shooting (14-27) G. Etchison 7-14, Letsinger 4-7, Wilson 2-4, T. Etchison 1-2.
Heights rebounds (22) G. Etchison 7, Carroll 6, Wilson 4, Letsinger 2, Linville 1, Tuma 1, T. Etchison 1.
Score by Quarters
Westfield 25 19 15 21 – 80
Heights 20 19 13 16 – 68