Hamilton Heights had a good first quarter, and that carried the Huskies through to a 71-61 win over rival Tipton in a Hoosier Conference game at Heights’ athletic center on Friday.
Heights led 19-9 after the first quarter. The Blue Devils cut the lead in the middle quarters, but the Huskies maintained a 29-23 halftime advantage, and were still up 48-44 at halftime. Heights then poured in 23 points in the fourth period to secure the win.
Gus Etchison led the way with 33 points, and also had nine rebounds and six assists. Brent Pennington also had a huge game, making six 3-pointers on his way to 20 points. Issiac Hickok collected seven rebounds.
With the victory, the Huskies clinched first place in the Hoosier Conference East Division with a 4-0 record and will play the West Division winner later this month for the championship. Heights is 12-4 overall and hosts Frankton on Thursday.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 71, TIPTON 61
Heights FG FT TP PF
Hudson Hochstedler 1-3 0-0 2 1
Gus Etchison 13-24 6-10 33 1
Brent Pennington 6-10 2-2 20 1
Issiac Hickok 2-5 0-0 5 2
Lucas Letsinger 1-6 0-0 3 1
Luke Carroll 2-3 2-4 6 3
Jonny Cambron 1-1 0-0 2 0
Noah Linville 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 26-52 10-16 71 9
Score by Quarters
Tipton 9 14 21 17 – 61
Heights 19 10 19 23 – 71
Heights 3-point shooting (9-20) Pennington 6-9, Etchison 1-5, Letsinger 1-3, Hickok 1-2, Hochstedler 0-1.
Heights rebounds (23) Etchison 9, Hickok 7, Pennington 3, Hochstedler 2, Letsinger 1, Carroll 1.