Hammond School boys’ basketball team came back from a 11–point first quar ter deficit and rallied to get within five points, but a strong Ben Lippen team took over in the third quarter and dominated with scrappy defense and offensive rebounding to defeat the Skyhawks 65– 44 on January 15.

First–year head coach Jody Lumpkin said he is trying to stay positive despite the loss.

“You star t to see that other things matter in the course of the game when you are in our situation,” he said. “We appreciate all the things that these kids add to the ethos of the game.”

Hammond’s young squad was tested from the beginning as the taller and stronger Falcons came blasting out of the gate grabbing a 22–13 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Skyhawks, constantly running substitutes in and out of the game, kept themselves in it by putting up 10 points in the second to Ben Lippen’s eight, and even pulled within five at the beginning of the third quarter with a steal and lay up by senior Aaron Walters that fired up the home crowd momentarily.

However, the Falcons turned up the volume after that, answering with their own steal and lay up. With several quick baskets and steals, the lead almost immediately went back up to nine. From there, the Falcons ran away with the game, outscoring the Skyhawks 22–11. At one point in the third quarter, Ben Lippen’s lead was stretched to 25 points. A late–game rally by Hammond made the game a little closer, but the outcome was never in doubt.

The Falcon’s forced 20 turnovers and out– rebounded Hammond 38– 15. Mitchell Deter, who lit up Hammond for 22 points, led the Falcons, while Drew Fraley scored 13, and Derek Snelgrove recorded 13.

Senior Aaron Walters scored 12 points and junior Dave Nidiffer totaled 11 for Hammond.