DAYTON, Tenn. – Hamilton Heights can pound the ball inside.
The Hawks are able to drain 3-pointers when they want to attack from the perimeter.
What in the name of James Naismith is an opponent to do?
The Hawks (8-1) opened Thursday’s game against Elizabethton in the Holiday Hoops tournament hosted by Rhea County High School ramming home three dunks – two by highly touted junior post Abdulhakim Ado – in their first four shots.
In between Ado dunks, junior Ezekiel Balogun drove the baseline and added a free throw to convert the play.
Silas Adheke scored on a dunk and Hamilton Heights for a 12-7 lead and then went on a 15-2 run, built a 27-9 first-half lead and cruised to a 74-40 victory.
The Hawks advanced to the second round where they will play the Walker Valley-Clarkrange winner on Friday at Rhea Middle School, adjacent to the new high school, at 9 p.m.
Showing their versatility, the Hawks stretched a 32-15 halftime lead to 40-17 by scoring eight quick points starting the third quarter, including 3s by Monaire McCartney and Adheke. Balogun got a steal and layup following the two 3s.
“Wow,” Elizabethton coach Lucas Honeycutt said. “We knew what we were getting into because we played them last year in the Seymour double-header. They’ve got athletes we don’t usually see. “We might play a team that has one or two athletes like Hamilton Heights has, but not that many athletes on the same team.
“We use a game like that to try and get better.”
Balogun led the Hawks with 15 points. Adheke scored 14 points and Strahinja Micakovic 13.
Ado, a 6-foot-11-inch rim protector and considered one of the country’s best big men for 2016, scored five points but only one after his early dunks in limited playing time.
“I’ve got a chest cold or flu,” he said. “We didn’t play our best game tonight because we’ve been taking exams and haven’t played in a while. We had a light practice this morning and jumped right into the game tonight.
“We were also without two players (Milos Andelic and Olanrewaju Olatunji, who has signed with North Georgia University in Dahlonega).”
How did Ado do on his exams?
“I did great,” he said. “I’ve got one more (Friday).”
After the lead went to 40-17, the Cyclones (8-2) got a 3 by Austin Cornett – he had nine points on three 3s in the game – and a putback from Bo Pless. Hamilton Heights scored 13 of the next 16 points and had a 55-28 advantage going into the fourth period.
Elizabethton’s Tyler Nichols, who led the Cyclones with 12 points, scored the first eight points in the final quarter, but the Hawks got 19 of the next 21 and cakewalked to the lopsided win in Rodney Earhart Gymnasium.
The Hawks defeated Elizabethton, 69-54, in the Seymour double-header last season and Balogan had 10 points. Ado finished with six points, seven rebounds and seven blocked shots in that game.
“For us,” Hawks coach Zach Ferrell said, “it was good that we could play a lot of guys in this game. Everybody got good minutes. Another thing is we got some rust off after the layoff and everyone played hard.
“Our execution could have been better.”
Hamilton Heights girls 60, Happy Valley 37: Four players scored in double figures for the Lady Hawks (8-1) in their easy win over Happy Valley’s Lady Warriors.
Mariya Bardeeva and Amber Hunt each scored 12 points and freshmen Jazmine Massengill and Elizabeth Balogun, who have already been offered scholarships by Western Kentucky, added 11 points apiece.
Balogun got nine points in the first half and Bardeeva scored eight in the second half.
Like the Hawks, the Lady Hawks are slated to play the Walker Valley-Clarkrange winner on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Rhea Middle School.
Kalee Johnson tossed in 17 points, eight in the first quarter, to lead the Lady Warriors, who were outscored 34-20 in the second half.
Scoring Summaries
Boys Game
Elizabethton 7 8 13 12 – 40
Hamilton Heights 16 16 23 19 – 74
Visitors (40) – Greene, Robinson 5, Ferguson, Mushayamund 3, Jones, 3, Chambers, Townsend 2, Tyler Nichols 12, Au. Cornett 9, Ad. Cornett, McCrary 2, Norwood, Pless 4, Dill, Norris.
Home (74) – Laing, Pitts 5, Ado 5, Ezekiel Balogun 15, Strahinja Micakovic 13, McCartney 3, Silas Adheke 14, Massengill 3, Abubakar 6, Chatha 6, Duran 4.
3-Point Goals – Elizabethton 6 (Au. Cornett 3, Robinson 1, Mushayamund 1, Jones 1), Hamilton Heights 5 (Adheke 2, Pitts 1, Micakovic 1, McCartney 1).
Girls Game
Happy Valley 10 7 9 11 – 37
Hamilton Heights 12 14 18 16 – 60
Happy Valley (37) – Davis 2, Woods 4, Puckett 2, Roberts, Eaton 2, Buck 2, Street, Reece, Whitaker 8, Kalee Johnson 17, Bare, Faatavi.
Hamilton Heights (60) – Jazmine Massengill 11, Elizabeth Balogun 11, Todorova, Onome 6, Monyei 6, Kasaciunaite, Mariya Bardeeva 12, Plentauskaite 2, Harris, Amber Hunt 12.
3-Point Goals – Happy Valley 2 (Whitaker 1, Johnson 1), Hamilton Heights 2 (Massengill 1, Hunt 1).
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)