Hamilton Heights dropped its season-opener Wednesday night, falling to Lebanon 65-49 in a home game.
The Tigers outscored the Huskies in each quarter, although Heights kept it close during the first half. Lebanon led 11-8 after the first period and 21-15 at halftime, but pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Huskies 19-11.
“We’re going to be a work in progress,” said Heights coach Chad Ballenger. “We just don’t have a ton of experience coming back. We’re going to have a learning curve for a while.”
The Huskies graduated several seniors from last year’s team, including 2,000-point scorer Gus Etchison. Luke Carroll, a senior this year, is the only player back with significant varsity experience.
“We’re going to run through Luke Carroll,” said Ballenger. “He did a pretty solid job tonight. We just got to stay out of foul trouble.”
Carroll led the Huskies with 16 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Another senior, Braden Kinder, added 10 points. Sophomore Tillman Etchison scored nine points.
Ballenger said there will be opportunities for the Huskies, “and the kids who rise up” will be the ones who get in rotations.
“Our work ethic’s been really good,” said Ballenger. The coach said the team’s goal “is to keep plugging away and have a shot in March.”
Heights is off until Friday, Dec. 3, when it hosts New Castle. The Huskies’ game with Mount Vernon, originally scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to Jan. 21 due to the Marauders’ playing in the Class 4A state football championship.
LEBANON 65, HAMILTON HEIGHTS 49
Heights FG FT TP PF
Luke Carroll 4-13 8-8 16 5
Isaac Tuma 2-4 2-2 6 5
Braden Kinder 3-9 4-6 10 4
Collin Gilmore 0-4 4-4 4 1
Tillman Etchison 2-6 5-7 9 1
Maddox Bohland 0-1 1-3 1 0
Cooper Vondersaar 0-1 0-0 0 2
Evan Williamson 1-2 0-0 3 0
Totals 12-40 24-30 49 18
Score by Quarters
Lebanon 11 10 19 25 – 65
Heights 8 7 11 23 – 49
Heights 3-point shooting (1-13) Williamson 1-2, Carroll 0-4, Kinder 0-3, Vondersaar 0-1, Tuma 0-1, Bohland 0-1, Etchison 0-1.
Heights rebounds (17) Carroll 5, Bohland 3, Vondersaar 2, Bohland 2, Kinder 2, Gilmore 2, Williamson 1.