Basha Defeats Hamilton Behind Freshman Phenom Duo, Magee
- Sutton Druck
- Feb 6
- 3 min read
Last night, I attended the matchup between two 6A premier region teams: the Basha Bears and the Hamilton Huskies. These two teams went into the contest ranked 5th and 21st respectively. Basha was looking to all but secure 2nd place in the region and Hamilton was looking to potentially challenge the Bears’ positioning. Basha dominated the interior all night and also were lethal from the perimeter.
FIRST HALF
Basha completely dominated the Huskies in the first quarter, almost holding them to single digits before Davion Harris (SR) hit his third three of the quarter for the Huskies as time was expiring in the period. The Bears started off quick with two buckets from 6 '6 Desean Middlebrook (JR). Mason Magee (JR) added to the tally with some crafty layups and pull-up jumpers. Magee then drilled a three and Lleyton Leonard (FR) hit a floater to give the Bears a 22-12 advantage on the Huskies after 1. To start off the second, Davion Harris cut the deficit by hitting a three for Hamilton. Mason Magee then went into takeover mode as he would score 3 possessions in a row for the Bears. Jordan Guliford (JR) would then pick a Husky’s pocket and drive down and lay it in. Cullen Schreiner (SR) and Drew Alexander (SR) added to the Bears totals. The Huskies found their scoring in the frame through Davion Harris and Marquice Cole Jr (JR). Isaiah Terry (SR) also hit a three in the frame, bringing us to our halftime score of 45-29. Davion Harris and Mason Magee lead their teams respectively with 15 points each.
SECOND HALF
The Bears would not take their foot off the gas in the third as Kingston Montague (FR) opened the frame with 8 points of his own. Mason Magee would then toss up a thrilling alley oop jam to freshman Lleyton Leonard which had the arena on their feet. Mason Magee would unfortunately go down with an injury around midway through the third quarter as a flagrant foul was called on Husky defender Elijah Brush. Magee was driving up to the rim and jumped up and Brush caught him on the face, pulling him down hard to the ground. Magee would eventually get up, but he sat the rest of the game. Griffey Williams (SO), in place of Magee, had 5 points in the 3rd quarter. The quarter was closed out by Boston Cloward (JR) hitting a fadeaway triple for the Bears as the time expired, giving them a 59-42 lead. It was all smooth sailing from there as both teams emptied their benches and we wound up upon our final score of 72-49. Davion Harris led the Huskies with 25 points, followed by Marquice Cole with 11. The Bears were led by Mason Magee with 17, Kingston Montague with 15, and Lleyton Leonard with 12.
IMPACT
The Bears basically secured a second place finish in the premier region with this win, improving to 14-2 on the year with the lone blemishes being to their rivals, the Perry Pumas. Basha would move up a spot in the open rankings after this contest, up to the 4 spot. Hamilton would fall to 7-7 on the year and fall to the 23 ranking. For Hamilton, this was their last big chance to secure a home playoff game in the first round. Basha basically just secured home court advantage until the semifinals with this win.
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