PHOTO GALLERY: Rising Sun boys basketball falls to Warriors

    Host Havre de Grace opened the game with a three-pointer and never trailed in a 60-50 victory over the Rising Sun boys basketball team Friday night.
    The Tigers were down 10-9 after the first quarter before the Warriors began the second quarter with eight straight points.
    Rising Sun inched its way back into the game on a basket by Brandon Aro and two free throws from Spencer McDermott.
    The Tigers eventually trimmed the deficit to 21-19 with 2:13 left before halftime only to see Havre de Grace nail another three-pointer.

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    "We weren't executing the way we needed to," Rising Sun coach Matt Haack said. "We weren't boxing out well. They had a couple shooters who were hot. We weren't closing out and gave them some open looks and they made us pay for it with some quality three-point shooting."
    The hosts held a 32-23 advantage at the break. Ahead by double digits for the bulk of the quarter, Havre de Grace hit a three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer. That was the dagger.
    "It kind of summed up the night," said Haack. "It was a tough shot and he had an open look and just drained it. We can't give up shots like that."
    Rising Sun whittled the lead down to 56-48 with 1:21 left but could get no closer.
    "We were not careful with the ball," said Haack. "We didn't get the ball inside enough in the first half. By the time we started to get to the free throw line because we were aggressive going to the rim we were down 15-16 points. It's really hard to battle back from a deficit like that."
    Ultimately, the Tigers were left to rue their sluggish start.
    "If we could've hit a couple long shots early in the game to get a little bit of momentum on our side it could've made a difference," Haack said. "It took us a good two quarters to kind of get some steam going offensively."
    Aro finished with 23 points, six rebounds, and five blocks. McDermott collected 10 points and four boards. Nick Luciano had five points, four steals, and two assists. Brennan Martz recorded four points, five rebounds, and two steals and Kevin Alkinburg added four points and four rebounds.