By Craig Beilfuss
LocalSportsJournal.com
HART–The Hart Pirates clinched the West Michigan Conference Rivers Division title on Thursday with a 63-45 win over the Mason County Spartans.
The game was played before a jammed-packed crowd at Hart High School on Senior Night.
Seniors led the way for Hart as Parker Hovey had another heavy stat line with double-double. He scored a game-high 24 points and hauled down 15 rebounds. Hovey dished out seven assists and had three blocked shots. Fellow seniors Diego Escamilla and Wyatt Dean contributed 13 and 11 points, respectively. Junior Blake Weirich had a big night with 14 rebounds.
With the win, Hart has now rattled off 19 consecutive wins with three regular-season games remaining against Newaygo, Hesperia and Holton. The Pirates will look to become one of the few teams under the new 2022-2023 format to go undefeated with a 22-0 regular-season campaign.
Early on, both teams struggled on the offensive end. Hart eventually closed out the first quarter with an 11-6 lead.
Hart boys basketball head coach Nick Bromsema (Photo/Craig Beilfuss)
During the second stanza, the Pirates put a little distance between themselves and the Spartans. With Hart leading 14-11, the Pirates went on a 10-0 spurt and forged ahead 24-11. Hovey and Escamilla each scored five points to lead the surge. Hart went on to take a 29-19 lead at the half as Hovey scored 10 points in the quarter.
Hart increased its lead to 49-30 after three quarters by outscoring Mason Central 20-11 in the quarter. The Spartans closed out the final eight minutes with a 15-14 advantage.
Hart boys seniors (Photo/Craig Beilfuss
Mason County Central head coach Tim Genson (Photo/Craig Beilfuss)
