Hamilton Heights couldn’t control Ben Davis’ Aaron Henry, a four-star Michigan State commit, but managed to defeat the defending Class 4A Indiana state champions, 78-75, in the Manual High Extravaganza in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday night.
Henry scored a game-high 47 points, including 19 points as the Giants’ rally almost overtook the Hawks. Poor free-throw shooting in the game’s final three minutes – the Hawks missed the front end of four straight one-and-one’s while the 6-foot-5 Henry kept scoring.
With Heights’ lead down to one point with eight seconds remaining, Tre Edwards made two free throws to push the Hawks’ lead to three.
The Giants, ranked seventh in Indiana, inbounded the ball, but Hamilton Heights’ Wheza Panzo stole a pass to seal the hard-fought victory.
Edwards sparked the Hawks with 32 points. He scored 24 points, including six 3-pointers, in the first half when Heights built a 44-29 lead at the break. Edwards went 5 for 5 from 3-point distance in the second period.
Jordan Rawls scored 24 points for the Hawks and had 11 in the first quarter. Rawls made four 3s.
Heights, which knocked down 12 3s in the game, went into the fourth quarter with a 66-51 advantage.
Boxscore
Ben Davis 18 11 22 24 – 75
Hamilton Heights 23 21 22 12 – 78
Ben Davis (75) – Turnstill, Jalen Windham 12, Aaron Henry 47, Nibbs 2, Clayton, Dawand Jones 14.
Hamilton Heights (78) – Ellis 2, Jordan Rawls 24, Panzo 5, Tre Edwards 32, Gilgeous-Alexander, Ambrose, Ruzhentsev 3, LeGuenne, Jitoboh, Plasvic 9.
3-Point Goals – Ben Davis 3 (Henry 2, Windham 1), Hamilton Heights 12 (Edwards 6, Rawls 4, Panzo 1, Ruzhentsev 1)
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)