CORINTH- The Hermon Hawks out-rebounded Central 40-15 en route to a 47-31 victory on Wednesday evening. Hermon out scored the Red Devils 31-17 in the second half.
Hermon got off to a quick start as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Caleb Shaw scored six points in the first eight minutes as Central cut the deficit to 7-6 after the first quarter. Freshman Isaac Varney scored six points in the first quarter for the Hawks. Hermon held a 16-14 lead at halftime, as both teams struggled from the field in the first half.
“The first three possessions we scored seven points,”Hermon junior guard Keenan Marseille said. “After that it was a slump. We had to wake up.”
Wake up is exactly what the Hawks did. They scored the first six points of the second half and went on an 11-2 run to start the half. The message at halftime was to come out and work hard, the message was loud and clear to the young Hawks.
“If we come out strong in the second half, we can get a lead like we did,”Marseille said. “That was what we had to do, come out and work hard.”
Hermon outscored Central 20-7 in third quarter to take a commanding 36-21 lead. Varney had nine points in the quarter.
Varney led the Hawks with 20 points, Marseille had eight points and two blocked shots, Jordan Bishop put in six points, Garrett Trask added five points and two assists. Kent Johnson and Cody Hawes had three points each. Hawes also had seven assists and two steals. Tyler Hawes put in two points.
The Hawks had seven different players that contributed in the big rebound advantage. Bishop led the way with 11 rebounds, Varney pulled down nine, Marseille eight, Cody Hawes and Bishop pulled down four rebounds each, while Joel Bergeron had three, and Johnson one.
“The game plan was to get boards, have great ball possessions, make shots, and stay focused,”Marseille said. “It is important, you see it today, we won by 16 points. You get boards, you win.”
The Hawks shot 6-12 from the free throw line, Central shot 5-7. Hermon (11-2) will play at Houlton on Saturday.
Shaw led the Red Devils with 15 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Dylan Gray had six points and five rebounds. Andrew Speed recorded four points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Micah Ward and Ethan Mailman put in three points each. Central (9-2) will play at MDI on Friday night.
