NEW HOPE — For the second time in three meetings this season, the New Hope High School boys basketball team found itself in a dogfight with West Point.
And once again, the Trojans found a way to win.
L.J. Hackman scored 10 of his game-high 23 points during the fourth quarter Monday night as the Trojans, who trailed 17-7 after one quarter, pulled away late for a 53-45 win over the Green Wave in the MHSAA Class 5A, Region 1 Tournament.
It would not be too simplistic to suggest the game was won at the free throw line. Each team took 18 free throws; New Hope made 15 of them while West Point made seven, shooting a woeful 3 of 9 during the fourth quarter.
“I’m blessed to have a couple of guys who can go to the line and shoot at a high, high level,” New Hope coach Drew McBrayer said. “As a team, we’re shooting about 76 percent, which is really good for a high school team.”
Leading the way are Hackman and Caleb Parr, who scored 12 points for the Trojans. Ty Crowell also was in double figures with 10.
“Caleb’s shooting 88 percent, and L.J. is shooting 82 percent,” McBrayer said. “You have those guards, especially your lead guards, like that being able to walk to the free throw line and make free throws, it makes it a lot tougher on other teams going down the stretch.”
Before the Trojans got down the stretch, they had their hands full with the Green Wave. West Point led 26-24 at halftime and hung close throughout the third quarter.
New Hope took its first lead at 30-28 on two free throws from Crowell, but West Point wasn’t ready to go away. The Green Wave held a 38-35 lead at the 1:37 mark of the third before a jumper in the lane from Parr followed by two free throws by Hackman put the Trojans back in front.
Perhaps foreshadowing the fourth quarter, Hackman intercepted a pass at midcourt and cruised in for a layup with 10 seconds left in the third to put the home team up 41-38.
The Trojans were not caught again, but they also never led by more than three until Hackman’s two free throws with 29.9 seconds left made it 49-45.
“Their physicality give sus some problems, and their length gives us some problems,” McBrayer said. “They do a really good job of extending out and forcing us to do some things we don’t like, which means they’re well-coached and have scouted us well, so give them all the credit.”
Although the Trojans handled the Green Wave easily when the teams last played in New Hope, West Point gave the Trojans fits right until the end of a 59-58 loss when they met on the Green Wave’s court.
Trying to put some distance between the teams led the Trojans to change things up a bit, showing patience rather than pushing the ball on several fourth-quarter possessions.
“We were trying to get them out of that zone, make them come guard us man-to-man,” McBrayer said. “We knew if we could ever do that, we were going to be OK, and right there at the end of the game, they had to chase us a little bit and foul us.”
It took a while to get to that point, which might have led to the exuberance that came with finally putting away the Green Wave. The Trojans closed the scoring on a flashy fast break with Parr pushing the ball up to Crowell, who dished to Hackman for a dunk.
MJ Smith was the only West Point player in double figures, finishing with 15 points.
New Hope, the region’s regular season champion, awaits the winner of Tuesday night’s game between Columbus and Saltillo in Friday night’s region final. West Point will play the loser of that game on Thursday in the consolation game for a ticket to the Class 5A state tournament beginning Feb. 15.
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