Bishop Hartley 56, Northland 48
Hawks hand Vikings first loss of season behind junior Marcus Hemphill's 20 points
COLUMBUS, Ohio - - It was a display of Central Ohio basketball talent both on and off the court on Tuesday night inside of the Dick Geyer gym, leading to a packed house. The Hartley Hawks (3-1) had a gameplan and stuck to it, leading the entire way en route to handing the Northland Vikings (6-1, 4-0) their first loss of the season, 56-48.
Hartley’s junior big man Marcus Hemphill shook off first half foul trouble to score all 20 of his points while Northland forward Nehemiah McMorris was plagued by it in the second half and ultimately fouled out midway through fourth quarter. But, the Hawks played a complete game on both ends, led by the brother duo of senior Jaden and junior Jakhi Calloway, each playing the entire ball game.
After an early feeling out process during the first four minutes leading to a 3-1 Hawk advantage, the pace of the game picked up. The Calloway brothers controlled the majority of the team’s scoring in the opening quarter, combining for nine of the team’s 12 in the first eight minutes. Once the quarter was over, Bishop Hartley led by a score of 12-7.
It took head coach Tihon Johnson’s team a little under five minutes to score a single point in the second quarter, only scoring five total points and one made field goal in the quarter before halftime.
The defensive effort shown by Bishop Hartley in the second frame was spectacular, creating havoc all over the court, including Jakhi Calloway causing a backcourt violation. With contributions from Carson Svetek, Quintin Easler and Caleb O’Neil on the offensive side, the Hawks added another 12 points to their total before halftime. With a 24-12 advantage at halftime, Hartley was in control of the game, doing it without Hemphill a majority of the second quarter.
Once the second half began, it was the Marcus Hemphill show, he scored his first basket off a pass from Jaden Calloway and continued to dominate the rest of the way. He posted consecutive 10 point quarters and was the best player on the offensive end of the court in the second half. Northland’s McMorris picked up his third foul with 5:06 on the clock in the third and was forced to sit and watch as time ticked on in the third quarter. Bishop Hartley closed out the third frame and held a 38-24 lead heading into the final quarter.
