East shuts down Hamilton

Thunderhawks hold  Big Blue to 3 points in the fourth quarter.

Samantha Grier Hamilton's Keimon Sims had nine points in Big Blue's 33-32 loss. Staff photo by Samantha Grier

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By John Bombatch, Staff Writer 1:54 AM Saturday, January 7, 2012

LIBERTY TWP. — Moments before the fourth quarter began, the Hamilton High School coaching staff urged its players to “finish this game out!”

But Big Blue simply couldn’t.

Instead, host Lakota East rallied from a five-point third-quarter deficit to win scored a 33-32 Greater Miami Conference victory.

Freshman guard Dylan Lowry hit two free throws with 7.8 seconds left to give the Thunderhawks (4-5, 2-3 GMC) their second win in a row.

Lowry’s shots from the foul line may have been the winning points, but East coach Wally Vickers said it was a determined team effort that won the game.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Vickers said. “We told them in the locker room that a group of maybe a little less character would’ve quit. But they didn’t quit, they kept playing and really had poise coming down the stretch.

“We made some big plays and got some big rebounds down the stretch, but more than anything, I think our team attitude in that fourth quarter was the difference. They believed they were going to find a way to win in the end, and they did.”

Hamilton’s 6-foot-8 senior center Terrell Sutton was the only Big Blue player to score in the fourth quarter, and he was limited to three points.

“That fourth quarter really hurt us,” Hamilton coach Tim Robinson said. “We’re up 29-21 and we come down and turn the ball over three out of the first five possessions we had the ball. And we missed two layups in that same stretch. You can’t miss layups and turn the ball over like that and expect to beat anyone in the GMC.”

Hamilton missed a layup with 3:40 left to play that would’ve given it a 33-28 lead. Instead, East got a free throw from Grant Wall and a game-tying score from Zach Panzeca to even things up at 31-all with 2:21 left.

Sutton hit the second of a pair of free-throw tries to give Hamilton a 32-31 lead. But on the next East possession, Lowry was fouled attempting a fallaway jumper from the left wing and hit both attempts from the stripe.

Keimon Sims led Hamilton (2-7, 0-5) with nine points, and Sutton had seven points and nine rebounds.

Austin Emrick led the Thunderhawks with seven points. Lowry and Alex White both finished with six points while Ryan Leppert, Panzeca and Myo Baxter scored four each.

Friday’s scoring output was East’s lowest total of the season. Its previous low was 35 points in its Jan. 3 win over Sycamore, however, and so the Thunderhawks are riding a two-game winning streak without many points to show for it.

East will play host to Woodward at 6 p.m. today. Hamilton is also back on the hardwood tonight for a nonleague tilt at Miamisburg.

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