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The Hanover Hawks converted 24 of 33 free throw attempts in the second half, including 17 of 20 down the stretch, to hold on for a 51-46 upset victory at Atlee in the Capital District opener for both teams.

  Hanover entered last week’s contest without a Capital District win in the past two years, while Atlee was favored to make a run at its first regional playoff berth. But the Hawks also entered the contest with one game under their belt whereas the Raiders were taking to the court for the first time. Though Hanover lost it’s opener at Monacan on Monday night the game served as a chance for the Hawks to work out the season-opening jitters that Atlee could not shake off until late in the game.

  “I think if we’d have had a game before this we could have worked out some of the kinks,” said Atlee guard Cameron Colquitt, who led all scorers with 17 points. “It took us about a half for us to get moving with some of our offenses.”

  Raiders’ coach Phil Reynolds agreed. “I think that we were tight at the beginning,” he said.

  Though Atlee missed a preponderance of open attempts in the first half, it could be attributed to opening-game jitters rather than shot selection. “Not very many bad shots at all,” Reynolds said.

  For first year Hanover head coach Troy Manns, the Monacan game served as a means for his players to grasp a better understanding of his philosophies and plans. “It’s kind of like a parent when you tell a child something, ‘The stove is hot’,” Manns said. “They don’t believe you until they touch it. And we told the guys if you don’t turn the ball over you win the game. After last night (at Monacan) they realized, we turned it over and that’s why we lost. Tonight we tried to give it away at the end but for the most part we took care of the ball.”

  For a majority of the contest, the game looked eerily similar to many that Hanover played last season where the Hawks developed a trend of jumping out to big leads early then faltering down the stretch only to lose. But on Tuesday at Atlee, the Hawks did something they have not done in the past two years and finished a district game on top.

  “This year we held our head,” said Hanover sophomore point guard Greg Lewis who is in his second year in the starting role. “It gets crazy around third and fourth quarter with the crowd and everything but this year we stuck together as a team, held our head and pulled it out.” Lewis finished the game with 14 points going eight-for-eight from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

  Hawks’ senior center Dylan Cole attributes the change to the work ethic Manns has instilled in the team. “I think he taught us to play with more heart,” Cole said. “We’ve got to go with more effort to win. Play the whole game and not slack off.”

  The Hawks jumped out to a 10-5 lead by the end of the first quarter as Atlee recorded more fouls (3) than field goals (2).

  By the 1:20 mark of the second, the Hanover lead had stretched to 22-11 after the Hawks reeled off six straight points on a three from Jared Yaeger and three free throws from Cole.

  But Atlee gained momentum heading into the locker room by scoring five points in the final 20 seconds of the half on a put-back from Austin Young and a three from Barett Prince at the buzzer to make the deficit 22-15.

  Hanover started the second half as they had did the first, by scoring on a short jumper from Cole and a three from Drew Cryster, who led the Hawks with 15 points. However, Cryster’s shot a the 6:28 mark the third turned out to be Hanover’s final field goal of the game and allowed Atlee to chip thier way back into the contest.

  The Raiders trimmed the lead to 10 on a second three from Prince but the Hawks pushed it back to 13, 31-18 on free throws from Cole and CJ Phillips. But jumpers from Colquitt and Young got the deficit into single digits heading into the fourth where Colquitt got hot scoring 13 of his game high 17 points.
  A three from Colquitt from the top of the key with 1:51 to play cut the Hanover lead to three at 43-40.

  Free throws from Hanover’s Cryster and Lewis pushed the margin back to seven but a deep three from the left wing by Colquitt brought Atlee back within four with 1:03 to play. With 46.8 to play, Atlee sent Phillips to the line where he hit one of two and the Raiders answered with a three from Daniel Faggert (10 points) to cut the margin to 48-46. But Lewis and Cryster converted three of four free throws in the final seconds to seal the win for the Hawks.

  Though surprised that his team managed to win by only hitting two field goals in the second half, Manns said it was the steady play and defense of his Hawks that made the difference. “We’re trying to pound the ball inside to Dylan (Cole) and my guys were trying to throw it inside so much they weren’t looking for their own shots.”

  For Reynolds, the game was decided in the fact that early shots did not fall for the Raiders. “We did a good job defensively,” he said. “It’s just that our offense didn’t match our defense.

  “We played good enough defense to win,” he added. “We were 10-30 in two-point field goals. They do that it’s going to be tough.”

  For Manns, the win sets the tone for the remainder of the season for his Hawks. “This win validates a lot of things we’ve been talking about.” 
 
HANOVER 51, ATLEE 46
HANOVER (1-1, 1-0 Capital) Crytser 15, Trsic 0, Phillips 2, Lewis 14, Yeager 6, Cole 11, Goode 3. Totals 9 30-38 51.
ATLEE (0-1, 0-1) Colquitt 17, Garthright 3, Brinks 0, Faggert 10, Rucker 2, Farrar 2, Evans 0, Hodges 2, Reiss 0, Rogers 0, Prince 6, Young 4. Totals 15 10-13 46.
Hanover…....... 12 10 11 18 — 51
Atlee ....................... 5 10 9   22 — 46
3-point goals: H — Cryster 2, Yeager. A — Colquitt 2, Faggert 2, Prince 2.