The Hamilton Heights Hawks got 12 points from 6-foot-11 post Jason Jitoboh on Monday night and defeated Teay’s Valley, 55-50, in the FCA Showcase at Virginia High School.
Hamilton Heights (15-4) had a 28-19 halftime lead, but the Lions refused to fold and trailed 40-39 at the half.
With 3:40 left in the game, the Hawks’ Uros Plasvic was slapped with a technical foul, which was his fifth. He finished with one point and seven rebounds. Teay’s Valley, from Huntington, W.Va., trimmed the Hawks’ lead to 50-47. The Hawks stretched the lead to five points with 33.8 seconds remaining.
Steven Verplanken and Sasha Sukhanoy led Teay’s Valley with 12 points each.
Hamilton Heights returns to action on Friday night with a doubleheader. The Lady Hawks play at 6 and the Hawks at 6:30 as they host Legacy Charter School from Greenville, South Carolina.
Boxscore
Hamilton Heights 12 16 12 15 – 55
Teay’s Valley 11 8 20 11 – 50
Hamilton Heights (55) – Ellis 9, Rawls 9, Panzo 7, Edwards 2, Ambrose 4, Ruzhentsev 3, Jason Jitoboh 12, Plasvic 9, Gilgeous-Alexander, LeGuenne.
Teay’s Valley (50) – Sigman 4, Su, Seven Verplanken 12, Louis Herrera 10, Lui 6, Torres 6, Sasha Sukhanoy 12.
3-Point Goals – Hamilton Heights 6 (Ellis 2, Rawls 1, Panzo 1, Ruzhentsev 1, Plasvic 1), Teay’s Valley 5 (Verplanken 2, Torres 2, Sukhanov 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)