Hawken’s pursuit of another deep postseason run didn’t come easily Saturday, but the Hawks showed their versatility by grinding out a 64-47 Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division win at Perry.
Coming off a Final Four season in 2024-25, Hawken was pushed out of rhythm early before asserting itself after halftime, leaning on experience and defensive pressure to create separation.
“Everybody knows that we’re trying to get out and go and play at a fast pace, and Perry did a good job finding us in transition right away, and slowing us down,” said Hawken head coach Anthony Burns. “We’re not going to put up 75-plus points every game, but we also have to know how to win the ugly, dirty games, the slow games, and the fast ones. That’s the beauty of our team having the experience and their ability to see different defenses and make different reads and still have success.”
Daron Hill and Ice Taylor connected on early 3-pointers to give Hawken a 9-4 lead, but Perry responded late in the opening quarter. Kaden Brewster scored on a layup, and Carter Hopkins finished a cut to keep the Pirates within reach before Tommy Grazjl closed the period with a bucket inside, sending Hawken to the second quarter up 14-8.
Charlie Mallett opened the second quarter with a one-legged fadeaway in the paint, Jap Auja added a driving score, and Grep Price finished a Taylor assist to push the margin to 20-11. Hopkins answered with a corner 3-pointer, but Price responded immediately with a steal and dunk. Taylor knocked down a mid-range jumper, Hopkins hit another corner triple, and Nate Trefzger scored on the block, though Hawken still carried a 33-21 lead into halftime.
Taylor found his rhythm in the third quarter, pouring in eight points, including a 3-pointer, while Hill added a transition dunk as the Hawks stretched the lead to 49-31 after three. Price later buried a step-back three, and Taylor saved a rebound before taking a return pass from Mallett and scoring on a baseline drive.
Perry made a brief push behind an Andrew Morris 3-pointer and a Chase Sivon basket in the paint, but Hawken maintained control the rest of the way to secure the 17-point victory.
“(Perry) was trying to slow us down at first, and we played into that, but we have to play Hawken basketball, which is up-tempo,” Taylor said. “In the second half, we were definitely able to show that by getting defensive, rebounds, and being able to push the pace.”
With its Final Four run still fresh, Hawken continues to face heightened expectations and every opponent’s best effort.
“Nobody’s going to lay down to us, everybody knows we made the Final Four, and we’re going to get everyone’s best shot based on that, and the fact we have a lot of returning players,” Burns said. “A lot of eyes are on us, and on any given night, teams are looking to say they beat us. We have to understand that and know that we have to be ready to play.”
Price led the Hawks with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting and added five steals. Taylor chipped in 15 points, Hill scored 11, and Mallett finished with six points and seven rebounds.
Despite the loss in just its second game of the season, Perry found positives against what could be the toughest opponent on its schedule.
“We felt like we checked some boxes tonight of where we want to be at this stage of the season. I told the guys at halftime that in Hawken’s first five possessions, we either had a steal or a deflection, and we were extremely active,” said Perry head coach Alan Iacofano. “We disrupted their offense, did a really nice job on some of their best scorers. They’re a really good and well-coached team. We obviously want to be on the right side of the scoreboard, but we feel like we build off of what we say.”
Hopkins’ 15 points led the Pirates, while Sivon added eight and Morris scored seven.
Perry visits South on Dec. 18, while Hawken travels to West Geauga on Dec. 17.
