Hardwood Heroes Sports
Federal Hocking Cruises Past Waterford in Sectional Victory
By: Ben Wielgopolski
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WELLSTON, Ohio- Wednesday’s game was not only a success and the beginning of a program turnaround, but one team’s bench got a big share of the pot in a monumental win.
To start the game, the Federal Hocking Lancers shot out of the cannon outscoring the Waterford Wildcats by 22 points in the first half alone, scoring 38.
The Lancers had energy from tipoff until the final buzzer. That was key to jumping ahead quickly and not only maintaining but increasing their lead.
That energy took the Lancers home with smiles on their faces as they cut the nets down after celebrating a 62-43 sectional win. This was their first sectional win with coach Jonathan Thompson, who was a key factor in the turnaround of this program.
“It feels great, but it’s not just me though, I have a great coaching staff with me,” Thompson said. “It feels phenomenal to be able to get a turnaround like this in this short of a time and that’s also from the kids who put in the work.”
The first 17 points came from six different contributors as the Lancers were able to dive deep into their bench due to the strong start.
With that help, the Lancers went on a 12-0 run to end the first half. That energy carried into the second half and they stretched that run to 22-2.
The ability to utilize the bench was another factor in the Federal Hocking win. 11 players got a share of the 62 points. A good amount were some new faces aside from the familiar Lancers. Those players, including the likes of Ian Miller, who finished with 12 points, were deciding factors early on.
He had the help of Nathaniel Massie, Brandon Bond, Kaden Chapmen and Lane Smith, who while combining for 13 points proved themselves as strong forces and showed the depth of the Lancers late in the game. They all worked to put the nail in the coffin to move one step closer to a state title.
“I don’t care if I scored a point tonight,” Quintin Basim said. “If I can get my points out of the J.V. kids that came in, that’s what I like to see.”
Another force that has been around the court a few times was Basim. He finished with 17 points in this game. He did his share to snatch some boards with a couple of rebounds as well. The second senior star was Brad Russell, with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Russell was key to sharing the wealth as well.
Next up for the Lancers is the St. Joseph Central Flyers. They are the five seed and the Lancers are the fourth seed in the tournament, so fans of both teams should be in for a battle. The Flyers beat Valley High School by three points, and Valley beat the Miller Falcons 66-53.
Federal Hocking beat Miller by 33 in the first game and then in the second game they beat the Falcons by 25.
Their next game will be held at the Convocation Center on Monday, March 2 at the Convocation center. That game is set to tip-off at 8 p.m.