The Hamilton Hawkeyes boys’ basketball team, coming off a win against the Holland Dutch, had a matchup against the number one team in the state, the Unity Christian Crusaders.
These two teams had already played before in the 2024-25 season, and that game didn’t go as well for the Hawkeyes, with the final score being 54-32 in favor of Unity Christian. This game, however, went completely differently and went in the Hawkeye’s favor.
Going into this game, one of the Hawkeyes players, Will Hickok, said, “We had really good team chemistry, and we were finding success before the game. It brought us together, and that was a big part of why we won.”
Knowing that it was going to be a tough-fought game, the Hawkeyes had to bring their A-game, and that’s just what they did.
The Hawkeyes played some great defense, having 14 steals and forcing 22 turnovers as well as only allowing 5 points in overtime.
Jeren Bronkhorst, Riley Vanderhulst, and Londin Cooper led the team to win this game. Jeren Bronkhorst had 6 steals, shot 100% from the field, and had 6 rebounds. Riley Vanderhulst had a amazing night from the line shooting 100%. To back that up, Vanderhulst had 18 points, 3 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Londin Cooper shot 63% from deep and led the team in points with 19.
The Hawkeyes came to play and battled hard, and it showed. The Hawkeyes won this game 65-63 in overtime after a 3-point buzzer beater from Unity Christian to send the game into overtime.
In the end, the hawkeyes proved wrong the ones that the boys can’t beat the number one team in the state. The whole team, on the court, the bench and in the stands encouraged and played their hearts out fighting every second to take the win.