The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
On Thursday night, December 20, the LaHarpe seventh and eighth grade boys basketball team were on the road at Hamilton. The seventh grade contest was tightly contested through three quarters before the Cardinals were able to take advantage of their size and quickness to pull away in the fourth quarter to post a 46-26 victory. Offensively, the Eagles were led by Tyler Sharpe's 11 points. Derrick Daudelin and Blake Mealey tallied 6 and 5 points, respectively. Jeff Norton and Nathan Lotz both pitched in with 2 points. Norton also pulled down 5 rebounds for LaHarpe. Daudelin dished out 4 assists, with Mealey adding 4 steels in the game.
The eighth grade game was close from beginning to end. The Eagles were able to grab a 7-point lead early in the fourth quarter but then went cold down the stretch, allowing Hamilton to rally back for a 34-31 victory. Kevin Mershon and Bryant Fernetti both reached double digits in scoring for the Eagles. Mershon tallied 13, while Fernetti added 10. Alex Rodeffer added 5 points, with Jack Lotz contributing 3, to round out the scoring. Randy Bray and John Bruns grabbed 4 rebounds each. Shane Pinkston had 5 steals and 3 assists in the loss.
Both squads will be back in action after the holidays when they play host to Warsaw on Thursday, January 3, at 6 p.m.