Mohawk's D stifles Chieftains in 42-28 road win

BASCOM – Neither team were scorching the nets offensively Monday night at Hopewell-Loudon, but what was the difference was the smothering defense of the Warriors in the middle quarters and a pair of huge Hunter Haynes 3-pointers.H-L led 12-10 after the first quarter, but then the Mohawk three-quarters court press defense really gave the Chieftains fits, which led to a bunch of turnovers and empty possessions. On the other end, Mohawk did just enough and hit enough shots to build a comfortable lead and hold on 42-28."They're a really good team and their athleticism and physicality presents some problems for us as they like to get downhill and I didn't think we did a good job of handling that early," Warriors coach Paul Dunn said. "We were a little loose with the ball, they were getting too easy of looks. But going to that three-quarters court press kind of slowed them down making them make some passes and make some turnovers, which allowed our offense to get into it. "Hunter and Connor (Flood) really carried us in that first half. They kept the ship afloat, but our defense has to be something. We've talked about our defense having to be the thing we hang our hat on and we did a good job buckling down tonight and really shutting them down in the middle quarters." H-L (2-1) got out to a 10-6 lead in the opening period after a Braylon Martinez free throw, but Mohawk's Boomer Cleveland got to the rim on consecutive trips down the floor to even the game at 10, but Luca SanGregory made a layup to give the Chieftains the slim 12-10 lead.But then the turnovers started, and Flood and company started to score inside as Mohawk started the second quarter with a 6-1 run to grab a 16-13 lead. However, it was short-lived as Joe Ewald splashed a triple for the Chieftains to knot the score. But then Haynes spearheaded a 9-0 run to end the half with two straight treys to give Mohawk a 25-16 advantage and all of the momentum."The real separation point in that game was those two Haynes 3s off of loose balls," H-L coach Roger Jury said. "Those were tough. I do give my team credit, most teams playing a team really good like those guys and you get down big like that it's time to put subs in, but I was impressed we cut the lead to 10 there at the end. "We got a good mix of kids that play for us … we'll be alright by the end of the year."Neither team did much in the third, but Mohawk certainly did more with an 11-2 edge. Cleveland led the way there with five points in the frame as the Warriors led 36-18 after three periods and the defense didn't allow anything easy for H-L.We knew coming in we had to keep Braylon out of the paint. He's an unbelievable athlete and create so much for the guys around him, so I thought Kahne and Kaleb (Bish), guys that guarded him in the second quarter, they did a great job of making it tough on him," Dunn said. "When those other guys did get looks, we had some good closeouts and Connor cleaned the glass on everything."Martinez made some things happen in the fourth, scoring seven of his 10 points and Matt Wyman hit a triple to pull H-L within 38-28 with 3:33 left. But that was the last score H-L got as Mohawk closed it out.Haynes led the Warriors with 13 points, while Cleveland chipped in 11 points and Flood ended with eight points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.Will Nutter had six rebounds and three steals for the Chieftains, who have to rebound quickly with a big rivalry matchup at Calvert Thursday."We have some young kids who learned a lot tonight. We told them if they want to become a great team, they have to learn," Jury said. "You can't talk about the what's or how many rebounds someone had or how many 3s or turnovers, but have to learn from what led to those events. This team wants to do that." Mohawk 42, Hopewell-Loudon 28Mohawk (3-0): Kahne Hayman 3-0-6; Ben Bogner 0-0-0; Kaleb Bish 1-0-2; Boomer Cleveland 4-2-11; Hayden Parker 1-0-2; Hunter Haynes 4-2-13; Connor Flood 3-2-8. Totals: 11-2-42.H-L (2-1): Ashton Miller 0-0-0; Luca SanGregory 2-0-4; Brody Brickman 0-0-0; Braylon Martinez 4-1-10; Brayden Brickman 1-0-3; Collin Smith 0-0-0; Dexter Stacy 0-0-0; Joe Ewald 2-0-5; Kellen Frankart 0-0-0; Matt Wyman 1-1-4; Will Nutter 1-0-2. Totals: 10-6-28.Mohawk&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;15&emsp;&emsp;11&emsp;&emsp;6&emsp;&emsp;– 42H-L&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;12&emsp;&emsp;4&emsp;&emsp;2&emsp;&emsp;10&emsp;&emsp;– 283-point goals: Mohawk 4 (Haynes 3, Cleveland); H-L 4 (Martinez, Wyman, Ewald, Brickman)Foul shots: Mohawk 2-5; H-L 6-13Turnovers: Mohawk 10; H-L 19