Hannan leads Hawks by Dexter

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HERMON – You can call him Jason or you can call him “Jake.”

Regardless of which name you choose, you’d have to call Jason Hannan a major force for the Hermon Hawks.

The 6-foot-8 junior center ignited the Hawks’ fast break and slowed the Dexter offense with an inspired rebounding performance while keying Hermon to a 59-48 Class B schoolboy basketball victory over the Tigers here Friday night.

Hannan’s dominant play complemented a strong inside effort by Rick Sinclair and the smooth, open-court savvy of Wade Brazier as Coach Clayton Blood’s Hawks improved to 5-1.

Hermon survived a determined second-half comeback by Ed Guiski’s 3-5 Tigers, who trimmed a 45-27 deficit down to four with 4:47 to play. Craig Wintle scored six points and Randy Keaten added four as Dexter rattled off a 16-2 run.

Most of that damage occurred with Hannan sitting on the bench with four fouls. His return boosted the Hawks immediately.

Hermon opened a 9-1 spurt with 4:23 remaining when Brazier hit a six-foot fall-away from the baseline. A defensive rebound by Hannan the next trip down the floor led to Brazier’s fast-break layup.

Sinclair completed a conventional 3-point play, rebounding a missed Brazier foul shot and hitting the free throw to push Dexter’s lead back to 54-43 with 3:46 left. Wintle hit a free throw for the Tigers, but Hannan’s rebound and long pass led to another Brazier layup on the break.

“Jake’s a very important part of our offense now,” said Brazier, who scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half.

“(Hannan’s) physical presence allows Ricky (Sinclair) to play the forward spot and with Ricky at forward you’ve got to put a guy on him who’s mobile. That leaves a man who’s probably not as tall on Jake. When Jake gets close to the boards like that, he’s just an animal. He’s tough inside.”

Hannan is beginning to emerge as another key figure in the Hermon game plan.

“Jake Hannan. That was the best he’s ever played, 16 rebounds,” Blood said. “Now he knows what he’s doing out there. I can see an emotional difference. When the ball’s up on the board, he wants to go up and rip it.”

Hermon had built up a seemingly comfortable lead, extending its nine-point halftime lead to 45-27 with an 11-2 run to open the third quarter. Brazier and Sinclair had four points each during the spurt for the Hawks.

Hannan and Sinclair battled hard underneath against rugged Dexter frontcourt players Brooks Sanborn and Keaten.

“They were bigger, so we had to be a little more physical than usual,” Hannan said. “You can’t get the boards by jumping. You’ve got to box them out.”

Hannan connected for 10 points and snatched a game-high 16 rebounds. Sinclair tossed in 14 points to lead the balanced Hermon offense and contributed nine rebounds and five blocked shots.

Brazier finished with 13 points, five assists and two blocks, while point guard Brent Thayer contributed 10 points, four assists and two steals. Marc Reynolds added six points and four assists, with Shayne Doughty, Jeff Bragg and Shawn Bennett providing steady play in reserve roles.

Wintle paced Dexter with 13 points on six-for-nine floor shooting. Keaten had nine points and nine rebounds, Sanborn eight points and 11 rebounds and John Watson eight points.

The Tigers wouldn’t roll over and made a game of it starting late in the third. Sanborn scored from the lane and Keaten hit from the paint to open Dexter’s big flurry.

Watson’s 16-foot set shot and a rebound hoop by Daniel Grant cut it to 45-35. After two foul shots by Brazier, Wintle canned a 17-foot jumper, a 12-foot runner from the lane and scored on a driving move and Keaten connected from the baseline to make it a 47-43 contest with 4:47 left.

Hawks 59, Tigers 48

Hermon Dexter

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Thayer 11 3 4 3 10 Wintle 9 6 2 1 13

Hannan 10 5 2 0 10 Smith 11 1 4 2 4

Reynolds 4 3 1 0 6 Haskell 1 0 0 0 0

Brazier 11 5 2 2 13 Watson 9 3 2 2 8

Sinclair 14 6 7 2 14 Sanborn 9 4 4 0 8

Doughty 2 1 3 2 4 Grant 7 2 0 0 4

Bennett 0 0 0 0 0 Giracca 2 1 0 0 2

Bragg 3 1 0 0 2 Keaten 10 4 3 1 9

Totals 55 24 19 9 59 Totals 58 21 15 6 48

Hermon 18 34 45 59

Dexter 9 25 33 48

Preliminary: Hermon JVs 64, Dexter JVs 55

3-pt. goals: Hermon (2-9): Thayer 1-4, Reynolds 0-1, Brazier 1-3, Sinclair 0-1; Dexter (0-5): Grant 0-2, Smith 0-1, Watson 0-2