Hardwood Heroes Sports
Federal Hocking Bullies Their Way Past Belpre
By: Curtis Feder
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STEWART, Ohio- The bleachers in the gym were packed Tuesday night as the Federal Hocking Lancers hosted the Belpre Eagles for a TVC-Hocking matchup.
For the hundreds of Lancers fans that attended the game, they went home happy as Federal Hocking put on a dominant performance.
Throughout the entire game, Fed Hock used their 1-3-1 zone defense, and Belpre suffered greatly offensively. The Eagles committed 26 turnovers, and the way the Lancers played on defense made it seem like they had six players on the court the way they swarmed to the ball.
The crowd was electric, and every Lancer basket resulted in an eruption of cheers and whistles that never wavered throughout the entire game.
On offense, Federal Hocking utilized their size and dominated the paint. They were constantly getting offensive rebounds, getting second and third chance opportunities and tiring the Eagles’ defense.
Leading the Lancers in scoring was junior Humer Smith, who racked up 23 points. He was lethal when given the chance, going 3-for-4 from behind the arch and 10-for-11 from the free throw line.
Belpre got outplayed from the jump, and was blown out so much so that the teams brought out their bench for garbage time early in the fourth quarter, as Federal Hocking won decisively 72-43.
The Lancers improve to 12-3 this season, which is a remarkable turn-around from last year’s regular season finish of 6-14. Despite all of this success, Fed Hock boys head coach Jonathan Thompson is making sure to keep his squad grounded and focused for the rest of the season.
“Stay hungry. It has been the message from day one: Don’t be satisfied with where you’re at,” said Thompson. “You haven’t accomplished anything yet, and you got to keep pushing. Every game is a new adventure.”
Federal Hocking will look to keep the momentum going as they face Miller on the road on Friday.