The Harwood boys’ basketball team hosted Lyndon – the No. 2 ranked Division II team – on Friday night, January 29. Carrying a lead into the fourth quarter, Harwood closed out the game for a 65-55 victory.
The first quarter started very slowly for both teams and the score was tied 4-4 halfway through the quarter. The Highlanders then found their scoring touch and reeled off 10 points to Lyndon's two. The run started with Shiv Seethepalli driving the baseline, scoring two points and drawing a foul that he converted at the free throw line for the old-fashioned 3-point play. Next, Cole Lavoie knocked down a corner 3-pointer, Seethepalli then put back an offensive rebound for two points and Lucas Baron scored two points on a fast break layup. The quarter concluded with Harwood leading 16-10.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Lyndon found their scoring touch and reeled off eight unanswered points to take an 18-16 lead. Showing composure, Harwood responded by closing the quarter on a 13-3 run that saw Lavoie score five points, Aiden Schoellkopf and Baron drop 3-pointers and Seethepalli score on a lob pass to the rim on a sideline out-of-bounds play. With that run, Harwood led 29-21 at the half.
The third quarter started just as the second did with Lyndon outscoring Harwood 11-3 to tie the game at 32-32 at the midpoint of the quarter. However, the Highlanders responded to the challenge and outscored Lyndon 15-3 over the remainder of the quarter to push the lead to 47-32 at the end of three. Liam Harper, Ryan Semprebon and Schoellkopf all scored four points during the run and Lavoie added three points.
For the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, the two teams put on an offensive show and Harwood maintained the lead, 58-46. Lyndon then outscored Harwood 9-2 over the next three minutes to reduce the Highlander lead to 60-55 with about a minute left in the game. At this point, Lyndon resorted to fouling Harwood on all of the remaining possessions. Schoellkopf went four for four from the charity stripe and Seethepalli was one of two to seal the Harwood victory.
Shiv Seethepalli was the game high scorer with 15 points. Cole Lavoie and Aiden Schoellkopf each added 14 points. Lucas Baron contributed 10 points.
Harwood's record is now 10-6 and their next home game is Saturday, February 6, against Oxbow. The JV tipoff is at 11:30 a.m. and the varsity game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
