GIRLS = Holton 54, Hiawatha 40

In their first meeting of the year and initial game back from the holiday break, Holton outscored Hiawatha in all four quarters in route to their fourth straight win against a Big East League opponent. After a back and forth first frame, Holton closed the half on an 11-4 run to lead 23-18 at halftime and then start quick in the third period to turn the lead in double figures. The Cats led 36-24 entering the fourth quarter before Hiawatha had a couple empty possession trailing 42-35 and then Holton put the game away to improve to 4-2 on the season. 

Holton got 18 points from Elizabeth Schuster while Brooke Willcott added 15 and Kaiya Taylor tacked on 13. The Wildcats made 8 of 10 free throws and forced 20 turnovers improving to 3-0 at home this season. 

Hiawatha had four different players hit a trey in the first half, but could only knock down a couple perimeter shots in the second half. Claire Twombly had a team high 12 points while Adison Williams and Kylie Nelson each scored 9 and Alija Contreras chipped in 8 points. The Redhawks fell to 3-3 on the season. 

BOYS = Holton 47, Hiawatha 44

Hiawatha came out hot and hit three triples for an early 9-2 lead and maintained an advantage all but one possession in the first half. Holton took a brief first lead at 19-17 before Hiawatha tied the score at halftime. Holton posted a 17-point third quarter, highlighted by a Brayden Peek breakaway one-handed dunk on a nice pass from Bodie Dillon. Leading 36-31, entering the fourth period it was back and forth till the final whistle. Peek made a pair of free throws for a 47-44 lead with 13 second left and after two timeouts, Hiawatha turned the ball over on a deflected pass which prohibited a game-tying shot. 

It was a game where the big guys had big nights for both teams. Luke Lassey was the leading scorer on the night as he had 14 off the bench and was perfect at the charity stripe. Holton went 7 of 11 in the fourth frame and 9 of 13 on the night from the line. Brody Meyer added 8 points while Peek, Dillon, and Kerrick Dedonder each added 6 and Korben Fox scored 7 including a driving layup to give Holton the lead for good and break a 43-43 tie in the final minute.  

Lane Kesler came alive in the fourth quarter and scored 8 consecutive points while grabbing several rebounds and put Hiawatha ahead by a point on three different occasions. He finished with 10 points. Braylen Siebenmorgen had 11 points while Michael Jensen scored 10 and Cameron Boswell had 9 on a trio of three-pointers. Yet, Hiawatha was just 1 of 4 at the line in the fourth quarter and went pretty cold from behind the arc after making those three early trifecta's. 

Holton improved to 2-4 on the season while Hiawatha dropped to 1-5. The Redhawks have lost four games by a single possession now this season and will have home games next week against Royal Valley and Rossville. Holton plays at Riley County before hosting Silver Lake next week.