Hamilton Heights cruised into the championship game at Class 3A Sectional 24 Friday night at New Castle with a 68-39 semi-final victory over Muncie Burris.
The Huskies led 15-7 after the first quarter, with Isaac Wilson scored seven points. Heights then blasted through the second period, outscoring the Owls 22-8 to take a 37-15 halftime lead. Gus Etchison had seven points in that quarter, with Luke Carroll adding six. The Huskies had another big quarter in the third, pouring in 24 points for a 61-29 advantage after three. Etchison added another eight points.
“I was really pleased,” said Heights coach Chad Ballenger. “We had a situation where, again, our kids were just locked in. We guarded and we did what we needed to do. We took care of business. We got to play a lot of kids, we got to rest kids. And we got an opportunity to play for a championship on Saturday night.”
Etchison finished with 15 points, also collecting five rebounds and dishing out five assists. Carroll had an outstanding game, totaling 14 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots.
“Luke Carroll did a good job setting the tone,” said Ballenger. “He got some good defensive stops and rebounds, attacked the rim. We just did a really good job defensively.”
The Huskies are 17-4 and play New Castle in tonight’s championship game, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. The Trojans beat Delta 51-43 in the second Friday semi-final to reach the title game.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 68, MUNCIE BURRIS 39
Heights FG FT TP PF
Gus Etchison 6-12 0-0 15 2
Noah Linville 1-5 2-2 5 3
Luke Carroll 5-8 3-4 14 0
Isaac Wilson 4-9 0-0 9 0
Lucas Letsinger 3-6 2-2 9 0
Tillman Etchison 1-3 1-2 4 2
Braden Kinder 0-1 1-2 1 1
Isaac Tuma 3-6 0-1 6 3
Drew Pennington 1-2 0-0 3 0
Blake Stevens 1-3 0-0 2 0
Collin Gilmore 0-1 0-2 0 2
Gavin Bramel 0-1 0-0 0 0
Totals 25-57 9-15 68 13
Score by Quarters
Heights 15 22 24 7 – 68
Burris 7 8 14 10 – 39
Heights 3-point shooting (9-28) G. Etchison 3-6, Wilson 1-6, Linville 1-4, Letsinger 1-4, Pennington 1-2, T. Etchison 1-2, Carroll 1-1, Kinder 0-1, Bramel 0-1, Stevens 0-1.
Heights rebounds (34) Carroll 8, G. Etchison 5, Letsinger 4, Tuma 4, Wilson 3, T. Etchison 3, Linville 2, Kinder 2, Bramel 2, Stevens 1.