Hamilton Heights dropped its home opener on Saturday, falling to Mount Vernon 73-61.
The Marauders jumped ahead 21-16 after the first quarter. The Huskies kept it close, trailing by just 36-34 at halftime. Gus Etchison had a great first half, scoring 15 points, including three 3-pointers.
Heights tied a record for most made 3s in a game with 15. AJ Field drained six of them, while Etchison and Camron Knott both had four 3s. But Mount Vernon outscored the Huskies in both the third and fourth quarters, and also kept them off of the free throw line: Heights only had one free throw attempt in the entire game.
“We got to find a way to get some stops and keep people off the ‘O’ boards,” said Huskies coach Chad Ballenger. “We shot way too many 3s. We hit 15, but we’ve got to find a way to get to the bucket because that’s going to open up even more for the perimeter. Our last 13 possessions, we weren’t patient enough.”
Field and Etchison both finished with 18 points, while Knott scored 14. Hudson Hochstedler dished out eight assists and pulled four rebounds, while Etchison handed out four assists.
Heights is 1-1 and plays at New Castle on Friday.
Mount Vernon 73, Heights 61
Heights FG FT TP PF
AJ Field 6-11 0-0 18 2
Camron Knott 5-10 0-0 14 1
Gus Etchison 7-18 0-1 18 2
Kray Leininger 2-3 0-0 4 2
Hudson Hochstedler 1-6 0-0 2 1
Brent Pennington 0-1 0-0 0 1
Issiac Hickok 1-1 0-0 3 2
Jonny Cambron 1-1 0-0 2 1
Cory Vonfeldt 0-0 0-0 0 2
Totals 23-51 0-1 61 14
Score by Quarters
Mount Vernon 21 15 16 21 – 73
Heights 16 18 13 14 – 61
Heights 3-point shooting (15-28) Field 6-10, Etchison 4-9, Knott 4-7, Hickok 1-1, Hochstedler 0-1.
Heights rebounds (14) Hochstedler 4, Field 3, Leininger 3, Knott 1, Pennington 1, Etchison 1, Cambron 1.
Hamilton Heights’ Camron Knott scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers, in the Huskies’ Saturday evening game against Mount Vernon. (Richie Hall)