Boys Basketball: Rebels get some holiday cheer as only county winner at Hubs Classic

South Hagerstown was the only Washington County team to post a victory in Thursday’s opening act of the Hubs Holiday Classic at North Hagerstown.

The Rebels rolled past Middletown 66-37 to stop a modest two-game losing streak, while North Hagerstown fell to Loudoun County (Va.) 70-64 and Washington (W.Va.) rocked Smithsburg 88-50. In the opener, Waynesboro picked up a 69-59 victory over Brunswick.


Today, Washington plays Brunswick at 2, followed by Smithsburg against Loudoun County, South Hagerstown clashing with Waynesboro and North Hagerstown meeting Middletown in the finale.

 Michael Hill and Kevin White were the catalysts in a big first quarter for the Rebels against Middletown.

Hill scored all seven of his points and White added six as South (4-3) marched to a 23-11 lead at the first break, putting things away early with a nine-point run to extend an 8-4 lead to 17-4 late in the quarter.

“White did exactly what we need him to do every game, bringing energy to the floor,” South coach Kevin Naylor said.

Middletown (0-5) couldn’t hit a bucket in the second quarter, going 0 for 8 and hitting one free throw, but South scored only nine and held a 32-12 lead at the break.

Devon King took over in the third quarter, despite a case of the flu, with 12 of his game-high 17 points as the Rebels waltzed to a 55-24 lead through three quarters.

“(King) shouldn’t have played because of the flu, but he wanted to be out there,” Naylor said.

Middletown didn’t notch a field goal until Howie Kalamets scored at the 2:57 mark of the third quarter. Kalamets led the Knights with 13 points.

White finished with 12 points, while Kevin Henson and Glen Tensley each added 10. Tensley, making his debut with the big boys, scored his first varsity points by hitting two 3-pointers.

“We know we have to be better than we have been,” Naylor said. “We have to be better with our focus. We attacked the rim tonight and didn’t take bad outside shots.”

 North Hagerstown and Loudoun County were locked in a duel that went down to late in the fourth quarter before the Raiders took control.

The Hubs (4-3) rallied from an eight-point deficit (38-30) early in the third quarter to take a 57-56 lead on a putback by Andrew Yacyk.

Loudoun County (7-3) countered with two free throws by Quan Stinger for a 58-57 lead and never lost the advantage.

Mike Anderson hit one of his six 3-pointers for a 61-57 lead and later added two key free throws after a technical foul by Yacyk with 1:14 left for a 65-60 lead. The Hubs could never rebound.

North simply could not stop Anderson, who finished with 30 points and five assists. He wasn’t shy, hitting one of his 3s from Waynesboro and another from Smithsburg, as North couldn’t get in his face.

“We knew about him,” North coach Kevin Hartman said. “We kept making switches with personnel on him. He’s not a selfish player.”

Anderson hit 11 of 16 from the floor as Loudoun County hit 56 percent (24 of 43) for the contest.