CUMBERLAND — Tied at 25 midway through the second quarter, No. 4 Fort Hill scored 13 unanswered to end the half.
The Sentinels (5-2, 1-0 Western Maryland Athletic Conference) outscored Northern 58-14 to end the game, winning in an 83-39 rout.
“I thought we started out a little sluggish, just lack of focus, lack of fundamentals,” Fort Hill head coach Thad Burner said. “We challenged them a little bit, called a few timeouts, I thought they truly embraced that in the second half. They played with some better energy, turned the ball over less.”
Tied at 25 with 3:37 to play before halftime, Liam Hamilton scored six of Fort Hill’s 13 unanswered points to end the quarter, adding an assist and a steal.
“I thought we played a good first quarter, part of a second quarter,” Northern head coach Jeremy Johnson said. “Then after that, we didn’t play Northern basketball.”
Hamilton finished with a game-high 19 points, adding nine rebounds, seven steals and six assists.
“Liam’s gotta make more layups,” Burner said. “He’s super athletic, he’s getting to the rim. He’s doing a lot of positives, but he’s gotta finish at the rim.”
The Sentinels forced seven turnovers in the final 3:37 and scored eight points.
Fort Hill forced 10 turnovers in the third quarter which led to 13 of 22 points in the frame.
“We got a little tired,” Johnson said. “Attrition started to set in and I gotta give credit to Fort Hill, they started to adjust. Play a little bit better defense on us and then that kinda stymied what we were trying to do.”
The Sentinels led 38-25 at halftime and 60-32 heading to the fourth and then outscored the Huskies (5-4, 0-2 WestMAC) in the final quarter 23-7.
Through one-and-a-half quarters, a rout seemed unlikely.
The first quarter featured seven lead changes and four ties with neither team leading by more than three points.
“I really just think we played quality defense,” Johnson said. “We were trying to push the ball once we got a turnover, they made a basket or we got a rebound. Try to turn and push the ball and score on our side.”
A steal by Sam Spencer led to a Landyn Green layup on the other end to put Fort Hill ahead 17-14 after one.
Green recorded a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Ansen Miller scored seven of Northern’s 14 points in the first quarter.
Miller led the Huskies with 16 points and two steals.
The Huskies opened the second quarter on a 11-8 run and tied the score at 25 off a Caleb Hinebaugh steal, setting up Elliott Myers-Shirer for a layup.
“I think it’s a lack of focus,” Burner said of Fort Hill’s slow start. “I don’t think that we were locked in to start the game and were just going through the motions. We’re doing it fast, but you gotta put the ball through the net.”
Jameson Powell-Morris finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, four steals and a block.
Fort Hill won the junior varsity game 55-12 led by Marquise Trimble’s 21 points.
Both teams face a rival at home on Friday.
The Sentinels host No. 2 Allegany (6-2, 1-1 WestMAC) at 7 p.m. while the Huskies face No. 1 Southern (5-4, 2-0 WestMAC) at 7:30 p.m.
“We’re excited for the challenge,” Burner said. “I think it’s gonna be a good game. Both teams have good records at this point, it should be a good game.”