Giveaways plague Hanover-Horton in quarterfinal loss to Loyola
By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
Tecumseh – A step shy of the Breslin, a step behind most of the night.
That, more or less, sums of the Hanover-Horton boys basketball team’s quarterfinal game Tuesday in the Class C playoffs.
Chad Mortimer said his guys fell to a good team, but very clearly stopped short of saying the better team is moving on to Thursday afternoon’s state semifinal.
“But you can’t turn the ball over against that kind of team. That’s the difference,” Mortimer said shortly after Detroit Loyola eliminated the Comets in 58-47 decision. “You can’t simulate their speed.”
He paused, searching for a way to describe, or somehow justify the final score. But he couldn’t.
“We turned it over,” he said simply. “That’s the difference.”
The Comets did just that, an unofficial 20 times in the loss, allowing a poor-shooting Loyola team a number of easy buckets in quick transition.
“We’re a team that has to impose its will in some way,” Loyola coach John Buscemi said. “We don’t have a kid over 6’2”, but when we play the way we are able, we do with a 7-foot heart. Sometimes you have to grind. It’s not always going to be pretty.”
Loyola, which lost in the district opener last year, had never won a regional title before this season.
“It’s big. It’s extremely big,” Buscemi added. “It’s big for the community, the school, the kids. I can’t tell you how proud I am of these guys.”
Hanover took an early 6-5 lead, but Loyola then went on a 16-3 run from the end of the first quarter and into the second to build a 21-11 lead.
But Hanover closed the first half on a 7-3 run and trailed just 24-18 at the break.
The Comets’ turnovers aided to a 13-2 Loyola run to begin the second half. Hanover played from behind the rest of the night, trailing 40-29 entering the fourth.
The offense put some spurts together, pulling within 50-43 with roughly three minutes to play, but on numerous occasions, consecutive possessions ended in turnovers, with the speedy, athletic and high-pressure Bulldogs getting easy lay ins.
“You turn it over 20 times, that’s 20 more possessions they had,” Mortimer said. “And they scored on a lot of those. … That’s a good team we lost to, but we also know that we didn’t play one of our better games. That’s tough. To beat a team like that, you have to play well for 32 minutes.”
Jay McMiller scored 13 to lead Hanover. Preston Laketa scored 12, while Evan Harrold hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half and finished with nine points.
The loss ended a 17-game win streak for Hanover, capping the season with a 23-3 record.
“Its tough, just because this team’s gone through a lot this year,” Mortimer said of having the year end. “We’ve had some adversity, some tough love, but we put it together, especially during this tournament run. … I’m really proud of them. To be where we were, as far as figuring things out and getting guys into their rolls. They bought in. It didn’t matter if they started or didn’t play much. When we came together as a group, things took off for us. This was a special group and they have a ton to feel good about.”
De Quan Powell led Loyola with 16 points, while PJ Mitchell chipped in 15. Romari Ennis added eight.
The Bulldogs (21-5) will face the Flint Beecher (23-2) in Thursday’s semifinal.
Beecher is the defending Class C champ.
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’
Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.
