CUMBERLAND — With just four practices under their belt, nine of Fort Hill’s 10 players factored into the scoring in the team’s opener.
Six Sentinels tallied at least nine points led by Liam Hamilton’s 15, and Fort Hill started the second half on a 35-4 run to dominate Morgantown Christian, 80-30, on Thursday night.
“Good opening win for us,” Fort Hill head coach Thad Burner said. “Thought we did some good things, we did some bad things. This is a good opportunity to take a look at ourselves and try to get better from the game. It’s something that we can build on.”
Fort Hill (1-0), coming off a 14-10 season that ended with a third straight state tournament appearance and area championship, led 16-6, 41-16 and 70-20 after the first three quarters.
Hamilton added four assists to his game-high scoring total. He was joined in double figures by Anthony Palumbo (11 points), Jameson Powell-Morris (11), Ramelo Palmisano (10) and Sam Spencer (10). Neek Taylor added nine.
Jacob Bone pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and Powell-Morris had seven, Spencer topped Fort Hill with five steals, and Taylor had four assists.
Two more Sentinels added six points in big men Landyn Green and Jeremiah Fincham, as Fort Hill displayed what should be among the area’s deepest rosters this winter.
“We’re as deep as we’ve been in a while,” Burner said. “We don’t think we lose much with the bench, but I think we’ve got some enthusiastic guys. It’s something that we’re excited about.”
Fort Hill had its struggles shooting the 3-ball last season but buried eight in the opener Thursday. Palmisano hit three and Spencer and Palumbo drilled a pair each.
The Sentinels displayed some early-season rustiness at the onset, which materialized in an 0 for 5 start from the charity stripe and sloppy passing.
Fort Hill used its defense to hit its stride.
Ahead by 25 at the half, the Sentinels came out with full-court pressure in the second half. Fort Hill went on a 22-0 run during parts of the third and fourth quarters.
“I thought we were a little rusty in the first half,” Burner said. “We reached a lot and we got beat off the dribble. Just trying to be a little bit too aggressive.
“Guys did a better job in the second half of staying in front, and I thought second half we played to pick-and-roll a little bit better. Guys were rotating. I think it was just a more concentrated effort on fundamentals.”
Cade Spicer and Andy Rodriguez were Morgantown Christian’s leading scorers at eight points apiece.
Fort Hill now turns to University, which swept the Sentinels, 69-46 and 67-50, last year. The teams tip off on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Correction
Fort Hill’s Easton Peters was incorrectly listed as “Easton Petersburg” in the Sentinels’ roster contained in the Scoreboard section of Thursday’s edition of the Times-News. Peters, a 6-foot-4 junior, is No. 14.