HOPE — Hauser put its foot on the gas early and didn’t stop accelerating, coasting to a 77-42 boys basketball victory against visiting Madison Shawe on Tuesday night.
Playing together since the fifth grade, Alex Gross and Justin Compton continued to build their on-court chemistry. Gross dished out four assists in the first quarter, with three of them feeding Compton for easy scores as the Jets opened a commanding 23-12 lead after the first quarter.
“We come out and practice it every day, and we have been doing it for this many years,” Compton said of his chemistry with Gross. “It’s like he knows everything that’s about to happen when I cut.”
Compton continued his strong play in the second quarter, finishing with 12 of his 14 points in the first half.
“We have really good chemistry. To be honest, it’s just playing together in pickup games over the summer,” Gross said. “I think that counts into it. Its really fun. I love playing that high-low action.”
The Hauser defense was strong in the second, allowing only one point through the opening six minutes and five total in the quarter and carried a 42-17 lead into halftime.
The third quarter belonged to Gross, using his 6-foot-9 height and length to battle strong down low, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the quarter.
Despite playing their reserves in the fourth quarter, the Jets (14-6) were able to outpace the Hilltoppers (4-13) 19-17 with major contributions coming from Sean Miller. Miller scored all seven of his points in the fourth, while Will Trotter sank two 3-pointers.
Even after the dominating performance the players and coaches believe there is much improvement to be made before the season ends.
“Defense, hedging and one-on-one action and outside shooting,” Gross said of the things the team still needs to improve on before tournament time. “We need to just get more intense in games.”
“We still got to improve on our defense,” Hauser coach Griff Roth said in agreement. “That’s what we try to concentrate on and try to get better each practice and each game.”
