Journal-News.com

HAMILTON — Officially it was a scrimmage that didn't count for anything, but the atmosphere sure suggested otherwise.

Rowdy fans, intense coaches and diving and bleeding players all were a part of the Badin-Hamilton boys basketball scrimmage Saturday night, Nov. 29, at Hamilton High School.

After 32 minutes, the visiting Rams escaped with a 68-67 victory.

"We're not going to be in too many rowdier environments than that was the rest of the year," Badin coach Nick Argentati said. "The experience of being in a tight game in a place like this was great."

The Rams got double-digit scoring from four players, including a team-high 16 from Colton Mehlman, who said the scrimmage didn't feel like a regular-season game, but rather a tournament game.

"It had that kind of playoff feel with the way everyone was playing and the students getting after each other," Mehlman said. "I actually forgot it was a scrimmage."

Scott Purcell (15), Jake Clear (11) and Corey Van Natta (10) also scored in double figures for Badin.

Drew Townsend led Hamilton with a game-high 21 — 17 of which came in the second half — while Robert Merz scored 19 and Jake Turner added 14 as Big Blue fired up an eye-popping 40 3-pointers.

"I'd say we only took six or seven 3's that I didn't like," said first-year Hamilton coach Tim Robinson. "I expect us to take about 30 a game, based on what kind of offense we're gonna run."

Big Blue made 11 of their 40 treys, with Merz knocking down five and Turner draining four to lead the way.

"I thought we shot a lot of 3's," joked Argentati, whose squad made 4-of-14 from beyond the arc.

Mehlman, who made 7-of-8 field goals and also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds, was forced to sit on the bench for several minutes in the second half with a bloody nose and lip, but he returned early in the fourth quarter and scored back-to-back buckets in the paint to put the Rams up 56-45 with 6:27 remaining, equalling their biggest lead of the game.

But Townsend rallied Big Blue with 12 fourth-quarter points, including a trey in the final seconds that trimmed the deficit from four to one.

"We didn't quit," Townsend said when asked what the biggest thing his team could take away from the game. "We were down 11 in the fourth, but we kept pounding away and only lost by one."

There were plenty of positives for everyone to take away from the game. And both coaches said they hope there are more Badin-Hamilton contests in the future.

"I hope it's something we can do every year," Argentati said.

"I think Hamilton and Badin need to play every year," added Robinson. "And I mean in a real game. You saw the crowd tonight, and I just think it would be a good thing."

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2193 or jmorrison@coxohio.com.