Led by guards Garrett Humphrey and Bryson Colbert, Hamilton Christian broke open a close, physical game in the second half to beat Elton 85-61 and take sole possession of first place in District 5-1A.

Humphrey hit seven 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 27 points, while Colbert had 22 points and went 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

The duo combined for 27 of the Warriors’ 51 second-half points.

The key was the third quarter. Elton cut the Warriors’ lead to 38-35 on a free throw by Jadon Ross 2 minutes into the second half.

Colbert responded with four three throws in 30 seconds, and Humphrey hit his sixth 3 to put the Warriors up 48-38 with 4:08 left in the third quarter.

“I thought Garrett lit it up tonight,” Hamilton Christian head coach Dexter Washington said. “I thought he should have more shots in the first half.

“I thought the game would have been over early. My kids have to understand how to be able to find that guy when he is on. He shoots about 41 percent from the 3-point.”

Washington said his team needed Friday’s game after a close road win at Jennings on Wednesday. Hamilton Christian (14-8, 4-0) extended its win streak to five games and has won all four of its district games by an average of 48.3 points per game.

“This was a good game for us because we struggled against Jennings because of the three previous district games,” Washington said. “Then we go to Jennings and they have some pretty good athletes.

“Then comes Elton. We knew this was a game that they knew they could beat us. Our kids handled the challenge.”

Hamilton forced seven turnovers in the third quarter.

“In the third quarter what caused the problem was the press, the full court,” Washington said. “We figured we would wear them down in the first half with our half court.

“I knew (Elton) would hit some shots early. (Sherman Bellow) made some shots. (Demarcus) Jack didn’t get a lot tonight, but when he did he scored. We figured if we take their three out we would be all right. They didn’t get any scoring from anybody else, and that was the game.”

Elton stayed with the Warriors in the first half and led 3-2 early in the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Bellow. It was the Indians’ lone lead.

Hamilton led by as many as 11 in the second quarter, but the Indians got the deficit down to 34-29 by halftime after a 3 by Jack with 17 seconds left in the first half.

Jack led Elton with 19 points. Bellow finished with 17 and Ross added 14.

Girls

Hamilton. . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Elton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

The Hamilton Christian girls finished out the first half on a 14-3 run.

Hamilton outscored Elton 30-10 from the second quarter to the third quarter.

“Defensively, we were able to maintain the inside,” Hamilton head coach Edwin Colbert said. “(Elton has) really good post players. We were able to clog the middle, shoot the basketball from the outside and rebound.”

Guard McKenzie Deville led Hamilton (19-4, 2-1) with 18 points and senior forward Journey Singleton added 11 points.

Kaya Francis hit two free throws for the Indians (14-17, 2-3) to tie the score at 4-4 with 4:49 left in the first quarter.