Hamilton zone broken by quick Colerain

Big Blue keeps it close, but Cardinals take control in 4th quarter.

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2:19 AM Wednesday, January 25, 2012

By Jay Morrison

Staff Writer

HAMILTON — Hamilton High School boys basketball coach Tim Robinson expected Colerain’s quickness to be a problem on the perimeter, not in the post.

But the Cardinals did damage in both spots, forcing Big Blue into 20 turnovers in addition to outhustling the much taller hosts for 16 offensive rebounds Tuesday night.

It all combined to turn a close game into a futile chase in the fourth quarter as Colerain pulled away for a 51-43 victory at the HHS Athletic Center.

“We couldn’t match up with them, that’s why we played zone tonight, and they were just flying in from the wings for offensive rebounds against our zone,” Robinson said.

Three of the Cardinals’ four starting guards finished in double figures to help the visitors win their third game in a row and improve to 7-6 overall and 2-6 in the Greater Miami Conference.

“We still struggle in the post because of our size, but we’re getting a lot better on the perimeter,” Colerain coach Kevin Higgins said. “Tonight we couldn’t hit anything from the perimeter, but the biggest stat was those 16 offensive rebounds against a team that was much bigger than us. That was a huge difference.”

Cardinals junior Deiontay Walters led all scorers with 15 points, while juniors Bryan Porter (12) and Milton Davis (10) finished in double figures as well. The three also combined for 19 rebounds to help Colerain finish with a 35-30 edge on the boards.

Despite all of that, Hamilton (3-11, 1-7 GMC) only trailed by one going into the fourth quarter. But the Cardinals forced Big Blue into turnovers on four of their first five possessions in the final quarter and quickly upped the lead to six.

“Our guards just have to step up and want the ball when we’re getting pressured,” Robinson said. “You have to want to be pressured and want to look up the floor and hit guys so we can score. And we’ve yet to do that.”

Senior posts Torrell Sutton and Breon Boyd converted when they received the ball inside. They combined to make 10-of-14 field goals and finished with 12 points each, but their touches were limited in the fourth quarter once Colerain stretched the lead and forced Big Blue to start looking for 3-pointers.

And the year-long problem of free-throw shooting presented itself again as Hamilton made just 7-of-18 from the stripe to drop its season average to 48.2 percent.

Colerain converted 20-of-28 free throws, including 16-of-21 in the fourth quarter.

The loss was Hamilton’s third in a row and sixth in its last seven, and the degree of difficulty ratchets up even higher Friday night when Mason, the No. 1-ranked team in Greater Cincinnati, visits.

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