SAINT GEORGES—Saint Georges Tech guard Nah’Shon Hyland had a strong warmup before the Hawks’ DIAA Boys’ Basketball State Tournament first round game against visiting Wilmington Friends School Wednesday as he was making several shots.
That proved to be a good omen for Hyland as he scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half to power St. Georges to a 19-point halftime lead and the ninth-seeded Hawks cruised from there to a 66-50 victory over the 24th-seeded Quakers.
“I felt great because in warmups before the game, I was getting a lot of shots up,” Hyland said. “In my daily routine before the game, I usually get a lot of shots up. If I’m making them, I usually have a good game, and my shots usually fall.”
St. Georges (17-4) took control of the game in the first quarter as it outscored Friends 15-6 in the frame, and the pivotal stretch was a 9-2 run midway that broke a 2-2 tie.
Hyland imposed his will in the second quarter as he went on a personal 13-4 surge to start the period, helping the Hawks build a 36-17 halftime lead, and head coach Rod Griffin liked the enthusiasm Hyland played with in the first half.
“He had a lot of energy in the first half, and he hit a lot of big shots. Once he his shot going, it’s really difficult to stop him, and he really has a tremendous range and release,” Griffin said. “I like the energy he played with the first half and got us off to a good start.”
St. Georges’ lead never dropped below 15 points at any point of the second half as it cruised to victory, setting up a second-round matchup at eighth-seeded Glasgow Friday night at 7 p.m.
The Hawks also played well on the defensive end in the first three-quarters as they held the Quakers to 29 points on nine field goals through 24 minutes, and the key was their ability to stay in motion.
“I thought we moved our feet really well and played really good help defense. We emphasize help defense all the time and moving and shuffling your feet,” Griffin said. “Because you play defense with your feet, not your hands, and I think we did a really good job with that for most of the game.”
Rawls and Tristin Gould chipped 15 and 10 points respectively for St. Georges, and Friends (12-9) were paced Jordan Perkins’ 17 and Timmer Farley’s 12.
Nah’Shon Hyland of St. Georges, seen here against Woodbridge, scored 21 points as the Hawks defeated Wilmington Friends 66-50 on Wednesday.