Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
HART — Whether it was Shelby’s defense, a slower start by Parker Hovey or a little of both, it took Hart’s senior guard a while to get going Friday night.
Once he did, there was no stopping him.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Hovey scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half, capped by a driving dunk late in the contest, in leading Hart to a 63-46 victory over rival Shelby in the CatchMark SportsNet West Michigan Conference Game of the Week.
Watch a replay of the livestream here:
Below are notables and more details from the game:
- Hovey added seven rebounds and six blocks to his stat line Friday.
- Senior guard Caleb Bitely, who is Hovey’s cousin, sparked Hart with 17 points and five rebounds. Bitely hit three 3-pointers.
- Seniors Diego Escamilla and Wyatt Dean added seven points apiece for the Pirates.
- Shelby played well and made shots in the first half in building an 18-12 lead through one quarter and 31-28 edge at halftime.
- Hart took over in the second half, outscoring Shelby 14-3 in the third and 21-12 in the fourth.
- Senior Bishop Lee paced Shelby with 14 points and five rebounds.
- Junior Wyatt Dickman packed the stat line for the Tigers with 13 points, five rebounds, four steals, two assists and one block.
- Sophomore Griffin Olmstead had eight points for Shelby, while senior Carson Claeys scored six to go with three rebounds and three assists.
- Hart improves to 2-0 overall and is 1-0 in the WMC Rivers Division, while Shelby is 0-2 and 0-1, respectively.
- Hart looks to contend for the WMC Rivers Division title. Others that look like potential contenders in the early going are Mason County Central and North Muskegon. MCC won at North Muskegon Friday night, 51-44.
- Next games: Hart visits Oakridge on Monday (Dec. 12), while Shelby hosts Grant on the same night.
