By Drew Peltzman
February 12th, 2023
Having not beaten Robbinsville (4th seed) since 2017, Hamilton West (5th seed) were able to change their fortunes in the first round of the boys Mercer County Tournament on Saturday, edging out a 49-48 battle.
Hamilton West captain Hass Cannon led the charge for the Hornets, tallying a game-high 25 points off a ferocious shooting night highlighted by three straight makes from deep in the third quarter.
“This tournament and going into the state tournament, Hass has to be the best player on the floor,” Hamilton West head coach Brandon Johnson said. “Whether we’re struggling to score, he has to score, whether teammates are getting open, he’s gotta get them the basketball, getting stops and rebounds. When you want to be that guy, you just have to do whatever this team needs.
Robbinsville’s effort and intensity kept up with the offense of Cannon, facilitating a whopping thirteen lead changes – the largest deficit was four points. Juniors Evan Bunnell and Tyler Handy both finished with 14 points in the Ravens defeat.
Hornets forward Devyn Wright-Myles put on a show on the defensive boards in the second half, consistently halting second-chance opportunities that Robbinsville was getting earlier in the game. Senior Ben Bouffard aided Wright-Myles on the glass, but more notably hit four crucial free throws in the fourth quarter.
Johnson spoke postgame about the team’s motivation to fight through to the end of a high-stakes playoff matchup.
“Our goal was to get to fifteen wins,” the Hornets are now 15-8 on the season. “Second goal was to make it to the Arena, and lastly, we didn’t think there were four teams better than us resume wise, so we took that seeding a little personally.”
Hamilton West will be matching up against Trenton (1st seed), who won their first round matchup by 22 points. The second and following rounds of MCT games will take place at CURE Insurance Arena in downtown Trenton beginning Tuesday.
