By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
HAMLER (February 28, 2024) – Lincoln Creager had 19 points and the Patriots used a 33-23 advantage on the boards to pull away for a 51-34 win over the visitors from Montpelier.
The Patriots first points of the night came on an offensive rebound by Creager and after three Patrick Henry foul shots they had a 5-0 lead.
Kenneth Smeltzer would put the Locos on the board with a conventional three-point play following a Patriot turnover cut the lead to 5-3.
Buckets by Creager and Mack Hieber extended the lead to 9-3, but a James Camper field goal and a put back on a rebound by Drake Sommer for Montpelier made it just a two-point game at 9-7.
The Patriots ended the quarter with three more free throws to hold a 12-7 lead after one quarter, helped by going 6/8 at the charity stripe.
Brayden Brink would get a basket for Montpelier to start the second before Patrick Henry put together their first big scoring run of the game.
A 9-0 Patriot run began with a turn around jumper in the lane by Thomas Smith, Landon Johnson had a layup, and then Creager hit a three from the left wing and added a bucket inside to make it 21-9.
Smeltzer stopped the run with a 2/2 trip to the foul line as Patrick Henry took a 24-13 lead at halftime.
Montpelier trimmed the Patriot lead to 26-19 early in the third quarter after triples by Camper and Brink.
A Johnson bucket and back-to-back scores inside by Jaden Punches pushed the advantage to 32-19, leading to a Loco timeout with 4:57 left in the quarter.
After the timeout, Creager added two more from the line and a bucket while Johnson added a trey from the right wing to end a 13-2 Patriot run, giving them a comfortable 39-21 lead after three quarters.
Smeltzer and Hayden Sharps spurred a 5-2 Loco spurt to narrow the deficit to 41-26 but the Patriots (13-10) quickly answered back with five straight points as Hieber hit a three ball and Johnson added another score, giving him 11 points on the night, to put the lead at 46-26.
No Locos (11-12) were in double figures as Smeltzer, Camper, and Brink had seven points each to lead the scoring.
MONTPELIER (34) – Sommer 3; Sharps 4; Camper 7; Girrell 4; Martin 0; Hartsock 2; Cooley 0; Brink 7; Smeltzer 7; Totals: 10-2-8 – 34
PATRICK HENRY (51) – Creager 19; L. Johnson 11; Smith 5; Punches 7; Hieber 6; Jackson 0; Rosebrook 0; Schroeder 2; Hollaway 0; M. Johnson 0; Scherot 1: Totals: 15-3-12 – 51
MONTPELIER 7 6 8 13 – 34
PATRICK HENRY 12 12 15 12 – 51
GAME STATISTICS
MONTPELIER: FG – 12/45 (26%); FT – 8/9 (88%); Rebounds – 23 (10 offensive); Turnovers – 18; PATRICK HENRY: FG – 18/47 (38%); FT – 12/18 (66%); Rebounds – 33 (14 offensive); Turnovers 15