The Hawthorne Valley Wildcats couldn't capitalize on their home-court advantage in their season opener. They fell 64-51 to Mount Academy on Friday.
When it comes to explaining why Hawthorne Valley lost, one person who can't be blamed is Oliver Towe. Despite the final result, he scored 27 points. Another player making a difference was Noah Vom Stein, who scored 11 points.
Mount Academy's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Jake Maendel led the charge by scoring 24 points along with 5 rebounds. Donovan Baird was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with 6 steals.
Hawthorne Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 0-1. As for Mount Academy, their victory bumped their record up to 1-0.
Hawthorne Valley will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Webutuck at 7:00 p.m. on December 14th. As for Mount Academy, they will head out on the road to face off against Tuxedo at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.