The Tigers fought hard before falling in the final minutes to Warren Hills.
Mike McDonagh has won a lot of games in his six seasons as Hackettstown High School’s boys basketball coach.
However, the Tigers’ boss got as much satisfaction with Saturday night’s 47-40 loss to Warren Hills as he has for most of his victories.
“You know what, I’m so proud of the effort we gave tonight,” McDonagh said. “It was awesome. This is my first loss to them in six years and I’m smiling because we haven’t been consistent the last four or five games. Tonight we were consistent for four quarters. Win or lose, I’ll take this effort any night from our guys.”
McDonagh is encouraged by the caliber of play by his team, which has just one returning starter in senior point guard James Britt. Saturday’s loss dropped the Tigers to 7-3.
“Britt’s the only one back with four new kids,” McDonagh said. “They’re new, they’re young, they’re inexperienced. But in a game like this they were awesome. And so was Warren Hills. They’re a very good team.”
Britt led Hackettstown with 15 points. Sophomore guard Jelani Awai added 14 points for the Tigers including 12 in the first half.
In a game that featured 11 lead changes, Hackettstown took its biggest lead at 16-9 on Ed Omelia’s short jumper early in the second quarter.
The game continued to go back and forth and Hackettstown took its last lead, 39-38, when Awai pulled up and banked in a jumper with 2;19 left in the game.
“(Awai) played very well,” McDonagh said. “They all did. They all had their moments. James (Britt) didn’t have to do it all by himself. Everyone contributed. It was a great team effort.”
Aftre Awai’s basket, Warren Hills proceeded to go on a game-ending 9-1 run. But it couldn’t dampen the spirits of McDonagh.
“It was a great game for three quarters and six or seven minutes,” McDonagh said. “For 31 minutes it was almost a tie score. You can’t win them all. The effort was great and I’m proud of my guys tonight.”
Tom Hinkel may be reached at thinkel@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomHinkelLV. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.