After losing twice last week to Carmel and Beech Grove and dropping from the top spot in 3A, the #2 New Castle Trojans looked to bounce back with a home game against 4A #5 Hamilton Southeastern.

 

The Trojans did indeed bounce back, taking the lead on a Luke Bumbalough jumper midway through the first quarter. It was a lead they would never surrender, as the margin grew to as many as 17 before HSE made a valiant effort late to close the final margin.

 

It’s no secret that New Castle comes and goes on the back of it’s three main scorers: Luke Bumbalough, Niah Williamson, and Mason Gillis. The trio definitely came ready to play on Tuesday, as they scored all of New Castle’s points in the first quarter and 28 of their 30 in the first half. Most of the damage was done behind the arc, as they combined to hit 8-16 from three point land.

 

After being down by 11 points at the half, HSE came storming out of the locker room, with an Aaron Etherington three on their first possession and then turning the screw on New Castle defensively. Mason Gillis would help solve that by scoring 11 of his team’s 19 third quarter point to open up a 15 point lead. The Royals would cut the deficit to as few as six with under a minute to go, but New Castle closed out the game from the free throw line.

 

 

HSE              12    7  15  27  -  61

New Castle  15  15  19  19  -  68

 

HSE: Aaron Etherington 19 points (6/8 FGs, 2/4 3Ps, 5/6 FTs), 7 rebs; Chaz Birchfield 15 points (6/11 FGs, 3/3 FTs), 4 rebs; Chris Grubbs 11 points; Noah Smith 7 points (3/10 FGs, 1/2 FTs); Mabor Majak 6 points; Nick Bowman 3 points (1/5 3Ps), 3 asts

 

New Castle: Mason Gillis 27 points (9/16 FGs, 3/5 3Ps, 6/7 FTs), 13 rebs, 3 stls; Luke Bumbalough 22 points (6/12 FGs, 2/4 3Ps, 8/11 fts), 6 rebs, 4 asts; Niah Williamson 14 points (4/9 FGs, 3/7 3Ps); Bryce Webb 4 points; Blake Burris 1 point