After trailing for most of Saturday night’s championship game of the 61st annual Gene Steighorst Invitational, host Hillsboro exploded for 33 points in the fourth quarter to post a 79-66 win over Francis Howell Central.
Junior forward Gaven Pinkley finally broke through the Spartan defense for nine points in that final period and finished with 20 points. He made it a double-double with 11 rebounds and also dished out eight assists.
Michael Brewer added 16 points for the Hawks, Garrett Lampkins had 14 and Isaiah Martin finished with 12 as Hillsboro stayed unbeaten at 5-0 on the season. The Hawks snapped Howell Central’s three-year title streak at the tournament, winning for the first time since 2012 and 15th time overall.
The Spartans (2-2) were led by Marcus James, who finished with 20 points. Nathan Garthe and Tyrek Coleman added 14 and 11 respectively.
“I knew we had it tied up, or maybe led once or twice in the first half,” Hillsboro head coach Dan Johnson said. “But we really gained momentum in the fourth quarter (going in trailing 50-46). We had a great game plan up to that point, but just couldn’t do the things we’d been doing in our first four games.”
Johnson praised Pinkley and Lampkins but stretched the plaudits farther down the line as well.
“It really all starts with our bench,” he said. “Believe it or not, we’ve got eight guys over there who really get into it – so much so that we’ve had referees tell them they need to tone it down. But that definitely spreads to the guys on the floor.”
With that four-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, Pinkley drove the lane three straight times, the last score giving the Hawks a 63-60 edge. A 3-pointer by Lampkins made it 66-60, the biggest lead for Hillsboro to that point, and Brewer, Lampkins and Tyler Isaacson finished things off at the free throw line.
“Garrett Lampkins ties things together, with his experience,” Johnson said of the 5-9 senior guard. “Then you throw Gaven into the mix, and it definitely creates mismatches. They (the Spartans) had athletes who would try and neutralize him a little. So we, at times, gave him point guard duties, and he’s so unselfish, and such a good passer, that we were able to score off of his contributions that way.
“But Gaven knew the fourth quarter was the time he had to do it,” Johnson added. “If he had done what he did there at the start of the game, they would have come up with an answer to stop him. His ability to play like that, and not get into foul trouble considering his size, was truly amazing.”
Pinkley, Lampkins and Brewer were named to the all-tournament team.
After the game, Johnson was reminded that the Hawks, through their first four games, had won by an average of 32 points. “That will drop that a little,” the Hillsboro mentor joked. “But it also raises our points-allowed average (from 42 to 47).”
In the third-place game, De Soto’s Jack Brigman banked in a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give the fourth-seeded Dragons a dramatic 51-48 victory over No. 3 seed Park Hills Central. The Rebels had tied the game at 48 on a trey with 3.4 seconds left. De Soto improved to 5-3 with the win. Festus smashed Windsor 61-30 in the consolation final.