HAGERSTOWN, Ind. – Hagerstown prevailed on Friday night in a battle for first place in the Tri-Eastern Conference as the Tigers defeated Winchester 47-45.
The Tigers (11-2) are now 3-0 in the league, while the Golden Falcons (5-5) fall to 2-1. Northeastern (10-3, 1-0) is the only other unbeaten team in the TEC.
“The Tri-Eastern Conference is a grind,” Hagerstown coach Bobby Jones said. “We happy to be sitting at 3-0.”
Hagerstown jumped out to a 9-0 lead early in the first period and the Tigers led 13-7 at the first stop.
“We’re not into moral victories, but I felt like we played more of a complete game on both ends of the floor,” Winchester coach Matt Fine said. “They got up 9-0 on us and we did a great job of keeping our composure and battling back.”
The game was tied 18-18 by the intermission.
“We didn’t do a very god job of attacking the box and one and they stayed in it,” Jones said of Winchester’s defense on Jared Andis. “They had a good defensive game plan it took our other guys a little while to figure out how to score.”
The Tigers were able to score just enough in the third period to take a 28-24 lead.
“We did a better job of finding the open man,” Jones said. “Trent (Weiss) knocked down a three and Jalen (Oliver) had a couple of nice buckets. That’s what you’ve got to do when your leading scorer is being chased around the court. They figured it out.”
The Golden Falcons also figured some things out by the final quarter.
“I’m really proud of how our guys hung in there,” Fine said. “That’s a one possession game.”
“We’re heading in the right direction,” Fine added. “We had a really good week of practice. We hadn’t played well in three out of our last four ball games.”
Hagerstown was on top 40-29 with 3:14 remaining as Winchester fought back.
“We’ve got to do a better job of closing the game out,” Jones said.
Andis led the Tigers with 20 points, while Oliver tossed in 15 points with a game-high nine rebounds.
Michael Georgi topped Winchester with 17 points and eight rebounds as teammate Boo Enis finished with 10 points.
Hagerstown won the JV contest 68-62 as the Tigers had five players in double figures led by Brady McMillan with 13 points. Noah Dale finished with 12 points, while Cody Swimm, Branton Payne and Caleb Neal added 11 each.
Justin McCallister led the Golden Falcons with a game-high 22 points. Glenallen Anderson and Trey Graft tossed in 14 points apiece.
Both teams return to action today. Hagerstown visits Franklin County. Winchester entertains Blackford
Box Score
WINCHESTER (5-5, 2-1) – Boo Enis 4 1-2 10, Michael Georgi 5 5-6 17, Lukas Mills 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Jordan-Miller 1 3-4 6, Austin Lawrence 2 2-2 7, Aaron Wallace 1 0-3 2, Jordan Key 1 0-0 3. Team – 14 11-17 45.
HAGERSTOWN (11-2, 3-0) – Jared Andis 5 8-11 20, Trent Weiss 2 0-0 5, Jalen Oliver 5 5-8 15, Evan Hoover 2 0-2 4, Drew Pyle 1 0-0 3, Mason Hicks 0 0-0 0, Silas Parsons 0 0-0 0, Trey Kelley 0 0-0 0, Matt Parson 0 0-0 0. Team – 15 13-21 47.
Winchester 7 18 24 45
Hagerstown 13 18 28 47
3-pointers – Winchester 6 (Georgi 2, Enis, Jordan-Miller, Lawrence, Key), Hagerstown 4 (Andis 2, Weiss, Pyle). Rebounds – Winchester 19 (Georgi 8), Hagerstown 27 (Oliver 9). Turnovers – Winchester 11, Hagerstown 10. Fouls – Winchester 21, Hagerstown 19. Fouled out – None. JV score – Hagerstown 68, Winchester 62.