For the second consecutive game the Hagerstown basketball team traveled to play a Delaware County opponent and found themselves facing a big deficit in the first quarter. On Saturday, Nov. 30, the Tigers traveled to Cowan and found themselves trailing 15-2 with 2:20 remaining in the first quarter.
The Tigers buckled down and fought back to eventually take their first lead of the game at 34-33 on a fast-break layup from freshman Graham Vinson seven minutes into the third quarter. Less than a minute later Kaagen Kendall threw an outlet pass to freshman Jayke Troutwine for another layup to propel the Tigers to a 36-33 lead after three quarters.
The Tigers dialed up their defensive intensity in the fourth quarter and outscored the Blackhawks 27-15 en route to a 63-48 win.
Kendall led the Tigers with a game high of 16 points, Landon Lawson scored 14 and Anthony Kelley added 11. Luke Garrett led the Blackhawks with 15 points and Lucas Terrell scored 10.
Both coaches agreed that the Tigers wore the Blackhawks down with their depth and defensive tenacity. Cowan head Coach Aaron Groves said his team came out ready to go. “We jumped out to an early lead,” Groves said. “But after that they did a good job of picking our zone apart and we did not get out on their shooters. We battled, but eventually we just ran out of gas.”
Hagerstown head coach Mark Doerstler was pleased to see his kids win. “I think the desire to win from our seniors turned this game around,” Doerstler said. ”They spearheaded our comeback effort and our younger players will learn from that. They see what it takes. Our depth and conditioning was also a big factor tonight.”
Hagerstown (1-2) 8 16 12 27 63
Vinson 7, Troutwine 9, Isaac Schmitz 6, Kelley 11, Kendall 16, Lawson 14, Ronin Dickey 0, Griffin Doerstler 0 — Total 63
Cowan (0-2) 17 10 6 15 48
Brody Clifford 7, Noah Sours 4, Garrett 15, Terrell 10, Anthony Cameron 3, Gentry Groves 3, Bryce Hahn 4, Jake Self 2 — Total 48
JV Results: Hagerstown 50 (Jonny Howard 13), Cowan 7
A version of this article appeared in the December 4 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.