Hopewell Boys Basketball Drops a Close Decision to Undefeated Keystone Oaks

The Hopewell Vikings Boys basketball team had one of their biggest challenges of the young season as they took on undefeated Keystone Oaks.

The Vikings were coming off a 67-60 road win over New Brighton and were looking to pick up their 5th win of the season.

Going into this game, the challenge was going to be dealing with the size of Keystone Oaks and while they battled them for the entire game, in the end, that size and a rough 4th quarter were the biggest problems as Hopewell fell short, 71-64.

Hopewell led after the 3rd quarter, so this was their third close loss this season, as they also fell to Lincoln Park, 63-62 and South Side, 75-73.  In reality, Hopewell is very close to being 6-2, instead of their current record of 4-4.

Taking a look at the scores after each quarter, Keystone Oaks led at the first quarter, 16-15. At halftime, the score was tied at 30 and Hopewell led 51-47 after the third quarter.

Taking a look inside the box score and at the team statistics:

Field Goal Pct: Hopewell 47.4%, Keystone 35.6%

Three Point Pct: Hopewell Hopewell 25%, Keystone 32.1%

Free Throws: Hopewell 7 for 12, Keystone 20 for 29

Transition Points: Hopewell 12, Keystone 17

Points Off Turnovers: Hopewell 7, Keystone 24

Second Chance Points: Hopewell 13, Keystone 1

Points in the Paint: Hopewell 38, Keystone 24

Offensive Rebounds: Hopewell 12, Keystone 10

Defensive Rebounds: Hopewell 29, Keystone 19

Turnovers: Hopewell 23, Keystone 13

HOPEWELL INDIVIDUAL SCORING:

James Armstrong: 18 points, 18 rebounds

Brody Rock: 15 points, 4 rebounds

Zach Kovell: 14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists

Michael Brown: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist

Thomas Pipkins: 4 points, 1 rebound

Aaron Dickhart: 3 points, 1 rebound

Nick Adams: 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Jeremy Benninghoff: 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist

Hopewell returns to action tonight as they host Avonworth in their first section game of the season. Tipoff tonight from Hopewell High School is set for 7:30 PM.