West got the ball off of the tip, but jumper Micah Martin ’16 went on to dominate the first quarter both on defense, with multiple crucial blocks, and as one of the Little Hawks’ major scorers.

After some clutch play by Henry Mulligan ’16, and fouls on both Nate Wieland ’17 and E. Hooper ’15, the Little Hawks broke the Trojans’ early (17-11) lead tying it up at 17 each.

Chuck Johnson ’17, Nile Ringen ’16 and Martin all contributed to advancing the Little Hawks’ to a lead position, bringing the game to (25-19). The half ended with the Trojans four points ahead of the Little Hawks, (36-32).

Johnson got a quick shot off at the beginning of the second half, followed by a near-dunk by Martin, and another two to bring the team back to a lead, with West High trailing by one. (38-37)

Wieland scored two under pressure, and subbed for Mulligan as the Little Hawks’ defense began to get brutal. The Little Hawks’ offense began to suffer, however, as Wieland struggled to get points on the board across three shots, stalling the game at (40-38).

Naim Smith ’17 subbed for Hooper, and Mulligan managed to break the pattern, sinking a three-pointer. The Little Hawk student section erupted in applause.

Just as their offense improved, however, their defense let one slip by, and the Trojans came knocking with two points. City answered with a deep three, bringing it to (46-40).

Martin fought for possession with two rebounds and then a basket, as West trailed by eight points with 44 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Little Hawk defense began to gain intensity again, but Martin reached four fouls and was subbed for Johnson.

The score reached (48-41) after a long block of free throws, and the Trojans began to return intensity on defense. They began to gain momentum on offense as well, bringing the score to (50-46) after a deep three by City.

West pushed to (50-48) in the 4th. Smith ends up grounded in the middle of the court after vicious Trojan defense. The Little Hawks call a timeout.

The Little Hawks came back, scoring another deep three-pointer followed by a field goal. Just then, the game reached a crucial point, as Martin fouled out, leaving the Little Hawks at a definite size disadvantage.

A series of fouls and missed shots brought the Trojans close, with just a point’s difference favoring the Little Hawks (59-58).

The Trojans continued to crash the boards, but the Little Hawks faltered on offense and couldn’t seem to stop the Trojan drive in time, leaving the game at (66-63) Trojans.

Check out Scott Tribbey’s opinion piece on the game here.