The Hamilton Heights Lady Hawks and Hawks captured NACA national championships Friday night at Fort Bluff in Dayton, Tennessee. The Lady Hawks are now in line for an invitation to the Geico National Tournament in New York.
photo by Contributed
Hamilton Heights swept the NACA Division I national championship games Friday night at Fort Bluff in Dayton, Tennessee.
The Lady Hawks (25-2) defeated New Hope Academy, 65-40, and the Hawks knocked off Southwest Christian, 72-60. It was the second straight national title for the Lady Hawks and second in three years for the Hawks.
Elizabeth Balogun scored 17 points and Jazmine Massengill and Kamilla Cardosa each had 16 points for the Lady Hawks, who used a 20-2 advantage in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
The Lady Hawks had beaten New Hope, from Landover, Maryland, by 69-34 to open the tournament on Wednesday.
Balogun, Massengill, Cardosa and Treasure Hunt were chosen to the all-tournament team, with Balogun adding the MVP defensive award and Massengill the MVP offensive player in the tournament.
Coach Keisha Hunt’s Lady Hawks will now wait to see if they receive an invitation to the Geico National Tournament to be played in New York City. Hamilton Heights finished runner-up in the 2017 event.
Coach Zach Ferrell’s Hawks avenged a three-point loss to Southwest Christian, out of Little Rock, Arkansas, in December in the Bolton Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee, while claiming the boys’ championship.
The Lions took an early 3-2 lead, but were quickly overtaken by the Hawks, who never trailed the rest of the game. The Hawks (24-7) led 36-26 at halftime and held a strong advantage over the final three periods.
Seven-foot-one post Uros Plavsic led the Hawks with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Rawls added 14 points and Kevaughn Ellis finished with 10.
Rawls, Plasvic and Ellis were selected to the all-tournament team, and Rawls was named the offensive MVP.
Boxscores
Girls Game
New Hope 16 12 10 2 – 40
Hamilton Heights 13 23 10 20 – 65
New Hope (40) – Eubanks 5, Ballinger, Paul 5, Hicks 8, A. Porter 7, L. Porter 2, Rochelle Norris 13.
Hamilton Heights (65) – Jazmine Massengill 16, Elizabeth Balogun 17, R. Balogun, Hunt 6, Rodrigues, Manzano 2, P. Martinez, Kamilla Cardosa 6, E. Martinez 8, Smith, Jitoboh.
3-Point Goals – New Hope 3 (hicks 2, Eubanks 1), Hamilton Heights 3 (Massengill 1, Hunt 1, E. Martinez 1).
Boys Game
Hamilton Heights 15 21 18 18 – 72
Southwest Christian 11 15 19 15 – 60
Hamilton Heights (72) – Kevaughn Ellis 10, Jordan Rawls 14, Gilgeous-Alexander, Ambrose, Ruzhentsev 2, LeGuenne, Jitoboh 8, Panzo 3, Edwards 9, Uros Plavsic 24.
Southwest Christian (60) – Ilya, Tim Ceasar 10, Shakur Daniel 11, Kennedy 2, Jabbiel Price 10, Mowson 2, Ojenda 3, Jovic 2, Jerotic 8, Hadvic 12.
3-Point Goals – Hamilton Heights 2 (Panzo 1, Edwards 1), Southwest Christian 4 (Hadvic 3, Daniel 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)