In Big 7 League basketball on Friday night in Hoyt, quick starts led to victories for the Royal Valley girls and Hiawatha boys.  

GIRLS = Royal Valley 50, Hiawatha 17

The Panthers scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back.  Leading 25-6 at halftime, Royal Valley pushed the margin to 30 points to force a running clock at the start of the fourth quarter.  Mahpiya Irving had 21 points and hit five treys while Mary Broxterman added 11 points and the Panthers bounced back from a tough double-overtime loss at Holton earlier in the week and improved to 2-2 on the season.  Clara Lindstrom had seven points for the 1-4 Redhawks.

BOYS = Hiawatha 56, Royal Valley 52

Hiawatha led 20-4 at the end of one quarter and hit their fifth and final three-pointer of the game to start to second stanza and cap a 20-0 run.  But despite trailing 29-14 at halftime, Royal Valley came storming back behind Pak Hale and Kobe Mills in the third period to close the gap to 40-35 entering the fourth quarter.  Hale hit a basket to make it a one possession game, but the Panthers could never tie or take the lead.  Thanks in large part to Sage Meyer, who made 13 of 15 free throws in the second half and finished with 21 points for the Hawks.  Hiawatha made 23-31 free throws for the game and 14 of those makes in the fourth quarter to protect the lead while Royal Valley was ust 9 of 17 at the charity stripe.  

Hale finished with all 14 of his points in the second half while Nachs Wahwassuck and Komesh Spoonhunter eached added 10 points and Brady Klotz and Kobe Mills finished with eight. The Panthers are now 1-3 on the season and in the Big 7 League.

Hiawatha has surpassed their win total from a year ago under new Coach Garry Smith, and will play at Sabetha on Tuesday for a share of the Big 7 League lead at 4-1 overall.  Tyler Brockoff chipped in nine points for the Redhawks, who capped a very impressive week with road wins at Nemaha Central (51-47) and Royal Valley.