Both boys and girls East Hamilton basketball teams claim third place in the District 6-AAA tournament with a pair of wins over Red Bank.
East Hamilton boys 70, Red Bank 62 — Despite the absence of their head coach, the East Hamilton Hurricanes used their second quarter momentum to bounce back against the Red Bank Lions, 70-62.
Red Bank’s Anthony Bonner had the Lions in front early with 10 of his team’s 16 points in the first quarter. But, in the second quarter, East Hamilton’s Zachariah Laboo would provide a spark to the struggling Hurricanes with a steal and fast break dunk. That spark lit a fire under Hurricane guard Peyton Harris, who was coming off the bench, as Harris quickly made an impact on the floor. With the Lions moving up the court, Harris would block a 3-pointer and cash in a 3-ball on the other end.
“Peyton has had the potential all year,” said Ricky Taylor, East Hamilton’s assistant coach. “I thought we needed more shooters out there to space the court out.”
“Recently, we have had a lot of players go down, so it has been next man up,” said Harris about his performance. “I have been waiting all year to show them what I can do. Hopefully, I can get more minutes in the future.”
The 3-pointer by Harris trimmed the Red Bank lead to one point, 28-27. The defense would continue to do their part, with Laboo forcing a jump ball, and the Juan Bullard-Adarius Brewster duo forced a steal. Bullard would make a layup at the other end to give the Hurricanes their first lead since early in the first quarter.
Before the half could end, though, East Hamilton will force another jump ball, and this time the possession arrow was in their favor. With 4.8 seconds remaining, Hurricane point guard Ashton Munson would weave through the defense to the 3-point line. While double clutching the shot, Munson would be fouled. He would go on to make all three free throws to put East Hamilton up, yet again, 31-28 at the half.
Coming out of the half, East Hamilton was still struggling to hold the lead. Red Bank’s Kendrick Lloyd would give the Lions a 35-33 lead with a 3-point play, a free throw and layup.
But, as Laboo did earlier, he would provide another spark.
Rarely, Laboo would rise from 3-point range. But with confidence, Laboo would sink the deep ball and give East Hamilton the lead back, for good.
The 3-pointer would ignite a Hurricane run that would span mostly the entire third quarter. Munson would come down the court and make a 3-pointer, and Harris would follow up with his own. The young gun that is Harris has won the trust of his older teammates in an instant.
“I thought he could help us out and turn the tide,” said Taylor. “I am proud of him stepping up. Tonight was his night.”
The 3-pointer barrage was yet to be over. Bullard would join the party with his own 3-ball and give East Hamilton a 45-38 lead late in the third quarter. With fouls interrupting the motion of play, the Hurricanes would cap off an 18-3 run to give themselves a cushioned 53-38 lead.
Red Bank would chip away at the lead in the fourth quarter, but with East Hamilton’s Harris rising to the occasion and senior guard Lincoln Scruggs adding buckets in the fourth, the deficit would be too much to handle for the Lions. Especially when making it up the court was as difficult with full-court trap action in play.
“We weren’t making our rotations properly, but we adjusted to take out the middleman and set more aggressive traps,” said Taylor about his defensive scheme. “Our traps were weak, so we decided to press harder, contain more of our traps, and protect the middle.”
As of now, East Hamilton and Red Bank wait for their opponent as the race in the BlueCross Basketball State Championship heats up.
East Hamilton girls 62, Red Bank 30 — The Lady Hurricanes take care of business to secure their third-place finish as East Hamilton’s Niya Mcghee and Noa Woodruff combine for 34 points in the win over the Lady Lions.
Woodruff opened the night by scoring six of the Lady Hurricanes’ 10 points and everyone knew she was ready to completely take over. Adding a couple of steals and blocks to the resume, Woodruff would finish with 10 of her 16 points in the first half alone.
When Woodruff settled down with her scoring spree, senior center Niya McGhee picked up 13 points in the third quarter alone. Her dominance in the paint made things easy and simple for her guards—just feed her the basketball.
“Niya McGhee has been through some adversity off the court, but to see her finish this district tournament strong I would not expect anything less from her,” said East Hamilton Head Coach Kayla Burse. “As far as Noa, she has been streaky lately, but she is getting her momentum and confidence.”
With that duo, the Lady Hurricanes can take advantage of the paint and boards with their athleticism. As for the Lady Lions, they had no answer for the two.
For Burse, she believes that East Hamilton has yet to play their best basketball.
“I don’t think we played that game where all the pieces came together,” said Burse, despite East Hamilton’s thrashing 62-30 win. “It can be a good or bad thing. Hopefully, we will start playing to the potential that I have for this team, our coaches prepare for, and what they work hard for.”
GIRLS SUMMARY
RED BANK 7 3 10 10 – 30
EAST HAMILTON 12 15 18 17 – 62
RED BANK (30) – Journey Holloway 13, Malika Odum 12, Gaye 3, Culpepper 2
EAST HAMILTON (62) – Niya McGhee 18, Noa Woodruff 16, Etalia Laboo 10, Staton 6, Maddox 5, Price 4, Calhoun 3
3-point goals: Red Bank 3 (Holloway 1, Odum 1, Gaye 1); East Hamilton 0.
BOYS SUMMARY
RED BANK 16 12 15 19 – 62
EAST HAMILTON 13 18 22 17 – 70
RED BANK (62) – Anthony Bonner 24, Kendrick Lloyd 15, Rizer 9, Sewell 7, Rice 4, Johnson 2, Crutcher 1.
EAST HAMILTON (70) – Ashton Munson 30, Peyton Harris 14, Bullard 9, Laboo 7, Scruggs 4, Brewster 4, Duffy 2
3-point goals: Red Bank 2 (Bonner 1, Sewell 1); East Hamilton 7 (Munson 3, Harris 2, Bullard 1, Laboo 1).