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WORTHINGTON -- The first half was Worthington’s. The second half was Hutchinson’s.
And Hutchinson’s half was the bigger of the two, leading to a 71-60 Tigers boys basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the WHS gymnasium.
The Trojans led Hutch by eight points with eight minutes remaining till intermission and took a 33-30 lead into the locker room. But immediately as intermission ended, Hutchinson had the eye of the tiger and the Trojans were hard-pressed to respond.
“We couldn’t find an answer,” said Worthington head coach CJ Nelson. “They did a good job on guarding, and we just couldn’t finish. We had some turnovers. We gotta learn how to take care of the basketball better.”
Besides their offensive woes, the Trojans had more problems on defense in the second half.
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In the first half, Hutchinson’s 6-4 senior guard Sam Rensch kept his team close, scoring 16 first-half points and distributing the ball smartly. Immediately in the second half, senior forward Aaron Elliott took control, scoring 15 of his 19 total points in the final period.
Rensch finished with 21 points.
Worthington played the game without Kaleb Knothe and Cooper McCoy, who were nursing injuries. Another key player, Charles Brands, was unavailable.
Nelson said the Trojans had to switch up several things due to their point guard, Knothe, not being able to play.
There were some good performances Saturday, however. Sophomore Andrew Mulder scored 15 points in the contest, and another sophomore, Zachary Hayenga, scored seven. Both players demonstrated a good floor presence.
Abagotte Opiew and Marenono Opiew scored 12 points and 11 points, respectively, for Worthington. Jake Brandner had 10.
Brandner also had eight rebounds while Mulder had seven and Abagotte six. Marenono had six assists and Jacari Swinea had three steals.
Hutchinson is 14-8 on the season. Worthington is 6-15.
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Hutchinson 30 71
Worthington 33 60
HUTCHINSON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- C.Verhassett 0-1-2-4, Hutton 0-0-8-8, Starke 0-3-1-7, Rensch 2-5-5-21, Elliott 0-9-1-19, Butler 2-2-0-10. Totals 4-20-17-71.
WORTHINGTON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Brandner 0-5-0-10, A.Opiew 2-3-0-12, M.Opiew 2-2-1-11, Swinea 0-2-0-4, A.Mulder 1-4-4-15, Hayenga 1-2-0-7. Totals 6-18-5-60.
