The Morrison Mustangs excited the full house on Friday night, January 30, 2015, by jumping out to 7-0 first quarter lead. They never relinquished it en route to a 55-52 Three Rivers Conference win over the Fulton, IL, Steamers.
The atmosphere was a perfect Friday night high school basketball scenario, with two arch rivals playing to a gym full of neighbors and relatives. Noah Hogue opened the scoring with a three from the right arch and followed it with a short jumper on the next possession. The game was on.
Morrison stretched the lead to nine, before the Steamers found the range for a couple three’s. This closed the half with the Mustangs up by six, 25-19.
The Steamers were able to stay close throughout the second half. They were aided by the three-pointer, but Morrison held off each advance and upped their record to 16-8 for the season.
The Mustangs have been victorious in ten of their last 14 games. They were led by the Senior duo of Kaleb Church (17), Hunter Hamstra (16), and Junior Noah Hogue (12.)
Final score: Morrison 55 Fulton 52
Fulton: 10 – 9 – 14 – 19 = 52
Morrison: 15 – 10 – 12 –18 = 55
Scoring: (3-pt., 2-pt., ftm/fta) Houzenga (0,0,0/1=0); Sitzmore (1,0,2/4=4); VanZuiden (0,0,0/0=0); Tenboer (2,0,2/2=6); Church (8,0,1/2 =17); Hogue (2,3,2,0/0 = 12); Hamstra (4,0,8/9 = 16.)