Role players help lift Hanover past Delone

It's no secret that Kyle Krout is Hanover's go-to guy.

Not only is he the YAIAA's third-leading scorer, but he also runs much of the Nighthawks offense and is one of their top rebounders. But when he got off to a slow start at home against Delone Catholic on Wednesday, his teammates were there to back him up.

Hanover trailed by five after the first quarter, and Krout missed his first three shots, but the Nighthawks got clutch baskets from Hunter Martz and Will McQueen in an eventual 58-50 win against the rival Squires. It was Hanover's second win against Delone Catholic this season.

"We said going into the game we had to help each other out more and rely on each other," Hanover head coach Nathan Myers said. "Our other Kyle (Bowman) had a great game, Hunter and Brent (Hill) played great defensively. It was a great team effort."

Martz finished with 14 points while McQueen scored eight and grabbed 12 rebounds. But the surprise performance of the night belonged to the sophomore Bowman, who came off the bench to hit two 3-pointers and score eight points.

The only substitute Hanover (13-4, 9-1 YAIAA Division III) used on Wednesday, Bowman entered the game in the second quarter and scored five points to help turn a five-point deficit into a one-point lead at halftime. With the Nighthawks up by one in the third quarter and both teams trading baskets, Bowman hit another 3-pointer that extended Hanover's lead to four. The Squires (7-9, 7-4) never took the lead from that point on.

"He has that capability, and we've seen it," Myers said it. "This is one of the first times he's scored like this, but he's young and he's coming along. The load is a lot easier to lift when everyone takes an equal part in it, and I thought tonight everyone took an equal part in it offensively and defensively."

After not scoring in the first quarter, Krout began to heat up and finished the game with 20 points. With less than three minutes to play and the Nighthawks leading by three, Krout swiped a pass intended for Delone Catholic's Logan Alexander and converted a layup that helped put the game away.

"Kyle leads us all the time and we just tried to help him," Martz said. "We're all just pumped up. Playing Delone gives us a little extra energy, and it's always been like that."

Both teams became increasingly physical as the game went on, with both of them getting called for multiple hard fouls in the fourth quarter. Afterwards, Myers said he thought the game was heated but officiated "fine both ways," while Delone Catholic head coach Lawrence Williams said "there were some bad calls" but he was "absolutely okay" with the aggression on both sides.

Although Williams was disappointed by the game's outcome, he praised his team for not giving up in the second half when Hanover took the lead. He also credited Myers for putting together a good game plan and keeping his players prepared.

"They're well coached, they're not very deep but they play hard for four quarters regardless of who they're playing against," Williams said. "I'm happy that we played aggressive. I'm not down on them, I'm proud of them and their effort. I'm sad because we wanted to get the W but I'm happy with how they played."

Hanover 58, Delone Catholic 50

Delone Catholic (50)

Logan Alexander 5 4-5 17, Bryce Mondorff 3 5-6 11, Brady Alexander 4 0-1 11, Dorsey 1 0-0 2, Kuntz 4 0-0 8, Lawyer 0 1-2 1, Maitland 0 0-0 0, McNutt 0 0-0 0, Oparanozie 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 10-14 50.

Hanover (58)

Kyle Krout 8 3-5 20, Hunter Martz 6 0-0 14, McQueen 3 2-4 8, Hill 3 0-1 6, Hart 1 0-0 2, Bowman 3 0-0 8. Totals — 24 5-10 58.

Delone Catholic _ 14 _ 11 _ 10 _ 15 _ — _ 50

Hanover _ 9 _ 17 _ 14 _ 18 _ — _ 58

3-point goals — Hanover 5 (Bowman 2, Martz 2, Krout) Delone Catholic 4 (B. Alexander 3, L. Alexander).