Ware ‘em out: Hamilton gets physical in bounce-back win

MOSS BLUFF — A day after not being able to find a rhythm offensively, Hamilton Christian blitzed Franklin Parish in the first half of a 64-46 win Friday in a consolation game of the Showdown in the Lake Tournament.

Hamilton (1-1) scored 33 straight points in the first half and led by as many as 34 points before the Patriots (1-6) found their footing in the second half.

The Warriors feasted off Patriots turnovers and misses in the run, which included Hamilton scoring the final 19 points of the first quarter and first 14 of the second. Deion Ware started the run with an alley-oop dunk and 3-pointer. He and Elijah Belton combined to score 23 of the 33 points in the run.

Head coach Dexter Washington said two players who didn’t do much scoring — power forward Nate Babors and point guard Neiman Sullen — keyed the Warriors’ performance.

“I think what Babers did tonight, outside of the scoring when he had a few nice moves, was something we have never gotten from him,” Washington said. “He was physical, he kept the ball alive and got rebounds. That is going to make (injured center Malachi Evans) play more physical when we get him back.”

While Babers drew plaudits for securing the ball, Sullen earned praise for keeping it moving.

“We talked last night and I told him that if we are going to win, we need him to distribute the ball like he did in football,” Washington said.

“Tonight, he got a lot of assists and got other people scoring the ball. We need him to be the leader as the point guard the same way he was as the quarterback. We played better with him doing that tonight. We got better shots than we did last night.”

Ware finished with 15 points while Belton and Mason Russell scored 12 each.

Washington said Ware, an athletic, lanky guard who blocked several shots, has the ability to dominate at both ends of the court. A transfer from Carver of New Orleans, the Class 4A runner-up last year, Ware has a chance to take a leading role with the Warriors after playing with two allstate players at Carver.

“He’s a great team player,” Washington said. “Coming from where he came from, he has an opportunity now to be who he really can be as a player. His potential is unlimited.”

Joshua Kemp led Franklin Parish with 13 points.

Hamilton will play Calvary Baptist in a consolation game at 9 a.m. today at Sam Houston.

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