BATH — The Leavitt Hornets jumped out to a fast start and never looked back, sinking the Morse Shipbuilders, 84-67, in a high school Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference matchup on Wednesday.
The Hornets were hot to start the game at Bath Middle School, pushing the lead to 15-6 midway through the opening quarter. Leavitt started the game 6-for-7 from the field. The Shipbuilders were 4-for-11.
“We always talk about on the road getting off to a fast start is important,” said Leavitt coach Mike Hathaway. “We didn’t settle for too many three’s early, we attacked the rim pretty well and we handled their pressure pretty well.”
“That’s happened every game we’ve lost,” said Morse coach Tom Maines. “We’re not shooting it to begin the game and we can’t get ourselves out of the hole, so we’ve got to shoot the ball better.”
Wyatt Hathaway got things started for the Hornets on the game’s opening possession, draining a trey from the wing. Hathaway added another bucket after picking off an inbound pass, and then dumped the ball into Cole Morin on the next possession for a layup.
Morse was forced to take a time out down 9-2 just 1:47 into the game. Tom Warren tried to get the ’Builders back in the game with his work inside. Warren extended over the defense for a bucket and later added a free throw.
With the score 9-6, Joziah Learned made sure it was as close as Morse was going to get as he knocked down back-to-back treys.
Leavitt pulled away in the opening quarter with its pressure. Mark Herman converted a pair of easy buckets off steals, while Hathaway led the way with eight of his 21 points in the opening frame. The Leavitt lead was 27-9 after one quarter.
“We’ve had fairly balanced scoring,” said Mike Hathaway. “Wyatt’s scored a lot for us all year, but Joziah’s scored the last couple games. He had 19 the other night. I know he had quite a bit tonight and Cole Morin has scored for us all year.”
Morse fought back with some success behind the arc in the second quarter. Warren knocked down a three midway through the quarter to cut the lead to 38-17, but Learned responded immediately at the other end with a trey. Dylan Orr came off the bench for the ’Builders and hit his first two shots from 3-point range. It was only enough to keep pace with the Hornets, who took a 50-29 lead into the half.
“They’re a good team,” said Maines. “They change up well, and we pass the ball better than what we did tonight. We need to pass better and shoot better.”
“We’ve been able to mix up our pressures pretty good all season and kind of go back and forth between man and zone and give some different looks,” said Coach Hathaway. “We were hoping to get them playing fast on offense.”
The trio of Learned, Morin and Hathaway helped put the game out of reach in the third quarter, as they spearheaded an 11-2 run to open the half. The run was highlighted by another Leonard trey to force a Morse timeout 2:28 into the quarter. Josh ter Mors converted on his two 3-point attempts of the quarter to lead the way for the Shipbuilders. Morse settled down, but the hosts found themselves trailing 71-45 after 24 minutes.
After an early timeout in the fourth, Morse played its best basketball of the game. The ’Builders went on a 15-3 run, once again finding success from long range with Orr, ter Mors and Warren knocking down treys. Warren led the Shipbuilders with seven points in the quarter as the comeback effort fell short.
“We had a big hole,” said Maines. “At least we didn’t quit, that’s the most important thing, they didn’t quit.”
Leavitt improved to 6-0 and sits in fourth in the Class A South Heal Point Standings. Wyatt Hathaway led the Hornets in scoring with 21 points, followed by Learned’s 20. Warren led the ’Builders with 17 points, while ter Mors chipped in 11. Morse fell to 2-5.
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