Kelly O’Day
Sports Editor
The Tomahawk boys basketball team kept rolling with a pair of wins last week, knocking off Ladysmith 60-52 on the road on Tuesday before handling Lincoln Hills 72-57 at home on Saturday.
THS expanded a 41-20 halftime lead to 31 points by eight minutes of the second half.
“We did a nice job offensively in the first half,” THS coach Tim Albert explained. “Our execution to start the second half was excellent. We ran our stuff well and also did a great job of hitting the offensive glass. On the defensive end of the floor, I thought we controlled their dribble penetration very well, and really rebounded.”
Hills rallied to cut it to 15 in the second half.
“We’ve got to be better defensively, and not allow our opponents to get into the lane,” Albert noted. “We’re off to a great start, but there is a lot of improvement that we want to make prior to our GNC opener with Medford on Thursday night.”
LHS: 20 – 37 – 57. FG; 2s 16, 3s 6. FT: 7-12.
TWK: 41 – 31 – 72. FG; 2s 23, 3s 2. FT: 20-39.
Scoring: Justin Jarvensivu (29 p, 18 r, 3 a, 2 bl); Isaac Weber (10 p. 3 st); Brandon Vecchio (4 p, 5 r, 3 a); Jackson List (8 p); Easton Phalin (7 p); Riley Tollison (3 r, 3 a); Andrew Cook (5 p); Erik Zedler (3 r).
Chopping down the Lumberjacks
The Hatchets closed with a 5-0 boost before half, converting two quick steals and a three point play for a 25-18 edge.
“We put some full court pressure on in the final two minutes of the half and it paid off with a couple steals and quick scores,” Albert said. “Overall, it was a good first-half effort, defensively. We did a good job of controlling the boards. Offensively, we got off to a really slow start, with turnovers and bad decisions.”
After the Lumberjacks pulled into a tie with 12:00 minutes to play, the Hatchets surged ahead by six. The teams played back and forth, with Ladysmith cutting into the lead and Tomahawk responding with a basket. The Hatchets scored 35 in the second half, including 17 from Justin Jarvensivu.
“We did a good job of executing late, after making a couple of bad decisions,” Albert said. “I know that the kids will learn from those and get better as the season progresses. We had some guys really step up late and hit some big shots, including Weber and List hitting threes and Zedler hitting a put-back.
“It’s nice to win on the road as we continue to improve.”
THK: 25 – 35 – 60. FG; 2s 13, 3s 9. FT: 9-14.
LSM: 18 – 34 – 52. FG: 2s 18, 3s 5. FT: 1-2.
Scoring: Jarvensivu (31 p, 12 r, 5 st, 4 a); Vecchio (6 p, 10 r, 5 st, 4 a); Tollison (3 p, 4 r, 3 st); Phalin (7 p, 3 a); List (5 p); Weber 4 p).