No. 1 Fort Hill outlasts No. 2 Southern in 57-56 slugfest

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Jan. 28—CUMBERLAND — “Keep your composure, give yourself a chance to win the basketball game.”

That was Fort Hill head coach Thad Burner’s message at the half with his team facing a 34-30 deficit to Southern. The Sentinels weathered the storm with their defensive effort, Jabril Daniels sunk a crucial triple late and Gamil Daniels gave them a one-point lead with a free throw with 6.1 seconds left.

Fort Hill fittingly capped the game with one final defensive stand, as Liam Hamilton blocked the go-ahead 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the top-ranked Sentinels a gritty 57-56 win over No. 2 Southern on Monday night.

“Our effort in the second half was really good, our defensive effort,” Burner said. “I thought that was kinda the difference. We were battling.

“They got their composure to come out in the second half. That’s something we stressed at the beginning of the year. If we had done this (game) in September, we’d have probably lost by 20.”

Fort Hill (5-5, 2-0 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) pushed its winning streak to four games after a 1-5 start. Southern dropped to 7-4 (3-2 WestMAC) following its second straight defeat.

The Rams had a chance to win in the final seconds for a second consecutive game.

Trailing 57-56, Southern had 5.2 seconds to go the length of the court out of a timeout. Rams point guard Brayden Upole, who finished with a game-high 23 points, had a look at the top of the key, but Hamilton got a finger on his running trey.

Southern wanted to get the ball to its leading scorer Jared Haskiell, who ended with 17 points. However, Jabril Daniels denied him the basketball.

“We were trying to get a dribble handoff to Jared, but they defended it,” Southern head coach Hunter Broadwater said. “We probably should’ve fouled earlier to give ourselves a chance on offense.”

Fort Hill had a balanced offense with five scorers who tallied at least nine points.

Jabril Daniels led the pack with 13 points and five assists, Hamilton had 12 points and eight rebounds, Landen…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-1-fort-hill-outlasts-141600187.html

Author : Cumberland Times News, Md.

Publish date : 2025-01-28 14:16:00

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