Hovey posts triple-double in Hart win over Shelby

 

SHELBY–The winning streak continues for the Hart Pirates as they cruised past their archrival, the Shelby Tigers, on Friday.

 

Hart won the West Michigan Conference Rivers Division contest, 63-38.

 

Hart (15-0, 7-0) got a big night out of senior standout, Parker Hovey, despite being “sick as a dog” according to Hart coach Nick Bronsema.

 

Hovey posted another triple-double with a game high 21 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Hovey also had three blocked shots and two steals.

 

“He affected the game in every way,” said Bronsema.

 

The Pirates got out to a 14-9 lead after the first eight minutes and never looked back. Hart extended their lead to 32-19 by halftime by outscoring the Tigers 18-10 during the second quarter.

 

Hart held the upper hand in the second half with a 20-12 advantage in the third period and 11-7 edge in the final eight minutes.

 

Caleb Bitely tossed in 14 points, including four shots from beyond the arc. Junior Blake Weirich continued his solid play with a double- double. He scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Senior Diego Escamilla contributed eight points.

 

Bishop Lee led Shelby with 14 points. Phillip Hayes tossed in eight points. Lee and Mason Garcia each grabbed six rebounds for the Tigers.

 

“Hart played very well offensively,” Shelby coach Rick Zoulek said. “They made many key shots when they needed to in order to keep us from making any run at them .

 

“Our effort was good,” Zoulek said. ” We needed to be more efficient offensively to try to keep within striking distance.  We handled their press nicely, but just couldn’t convert our possessions into points.