Bishop Hartley 70, Bishop Watterson 45
Hawks dominate the final three periods and remain undefeated in the CCL
COLUMBUS, OH - All things considered, it’s been an impressive two-month start to the season for Bishop Hartley. But after they opened the year with an 11-1 record, adversity struck the last two weeks as the Hawks suffered two losses in three games; albeit to two quality teams in undefeated Cincinnati Wyoming and state ranked Olentangy Orange.
Yet if the saying goes that E (event) + R (result) = O (outcome), the final result of Hartley’s 70-45 home win over a high-quality Bishop Watterson team on Friday indicated the Hawks positively responded to the adversity and delivered one of their best performances of the season.
It wasn’t a pretty start, though. The Eagles delivered the first blow and scored the first seven points, but that was about as good as it would get for the visitors. The Hawks responded with a 20-8 run in the final five minutes of the first period and set the tone for what was expected to be a competitive game that turned into a Hartley rout.
A 16-4 margin that favored the Hawks in the second period piled on to a Watterson team that was physical, but had trouble responding to the Hawks' speed and defensive pressure that was not only displayed by their starting five, but also key role players off the Hartley bench.
“Our goal with any team we play is to try and be very strong on the defensive end,” Hartley third year head coach Andreas James said after the game. “Our goal is to get ‘kills’ and kills are three stops in a row. We didn’t start the game like that, but the guys trusted the game plan and got back into it against a really good Watterson team. I don’t think the [final] score is indicative of how good those guys really are, that’s a really good team.”