Hamilton Heights pulled away from Yorktown in the third quarter, and that led the Huskies to a 66-53 victory in the opening game of Class 3A Sectional 24 at New Castle on Tuesday.
Heights led 17-13 after the first quarter, with Gus Etchison draining four 3-pointers during that period. The Tigers came back to tie the game at 24-24 at one point before the Huskies pulled ahead 36-34 at halftime when Etchison hit a buzzer-beating triple. Lucas Letsinger also had two 3-pointers during the quarter.
Heights blasted ahead in the third period, outscoring Yorktown 21-8 to take a 57-42 lead. Etchison poured in another 11 points. The Huskies then held their lead during the fourth quarter, making five of seven free throws along the way. Noah Linville went 3-for-4 from the line.
“We relaxed, we made shots, our defense was really good,” said Heights coach Chad Ballenger. He credited his Huskies with rebounding better in the second half, and said his team “really got to control the tempo” once it had the lead.
Etchison finished the game with 30 points, making seven 3-pointers. Letsinger had three triples for nine points. Luke Carroll led the rebounds with seven, followed by Etchison with six and Isaac Wilson with five.
The Huskies are 16-4 and play Muncie Burris at 6 p.m. Friday in the first semi-final game at New Castle.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 66, YORKTOWN 53
Heights FG FT TP PF
Gus Etchison 10-18 3-4 30 2
Noah Linville 2-8 3-4 8 2
Luke Carroll 3-7 2-2 8 4
Isaac Wilson 3-7 0-1 7 4
Lucas Letsinger 3-7 0-0 9 1
Isaac Tuma 2-2 0-0 4 2
Tillman Etchison 0-0 0-0 0 0
Drew Pennington 0-0 0-0 0 0
Collin Gilmore 0-0 0-0 0 0
Gavin Bramel 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 23-49 8-11 66 15
Score by Quarters
Yorktown 13 21 8 11 – 53
Heights 17 19 21 9 – 66
Heights 3-point shooting (12-26) G. Etchison 7-11, Letsinger 3-6, Linville 1-4, Wilson 1-4, Carroll 0-1.
Heights rebounds (26) Carroll 7, G. Etchison 6, Wilson 5, Letsinger 4, Linville 2, Tuma 2.
SECTIONAL INFORMATION
Hamilton Heights athletic director Kurt Ogden announced the following information regarding the New Castle sectional.
“Boys Basketball Sectional tickets at New Castle must be bought online. No tickets will be sold at the door. Everybody entering the gym must have a QR code to be scanned at the ticket entrance. The link for tickets can be found at www.hhschuskies.org/athletics
Single game tickets are $6. No season passes will be available.
Doors will open 45 minutes before the first game of each session is scheduled to begin. Doors will open 15 minutes prior to the start of the second game.
Balloons, banners and/or posters, cowbells, horns, etc. are not permitted. Lastly, no line-up lanes of fans shall be permitted on the playing floor at any time during the IHSAA tournament series.”