On Tuesday, January 29th it was senior night at Chandler High School, and an extremely emotional night for many. Chandler (12-14) has had a down year with the injury of 6-foot-4 senior guard/forward Kyndahl Holmes (torn ACL), but wanted to show local rival Hamilton (17-6) how much pride they had.
5-foot-9 senior PG Daquise Gaines started off the game with the ball, and used his incredible speed to get to the line - making two free-throws for a 2-0 lead.
Then Hamilton's 6-foot-7 sophomore post James Sosinsnki went to work on the block for a 2 to 2 game.
6-foot-4 junior forward Jared McCleery earned an “and-1” for a 5 to 2 game, after a nice pass by Gaines. After two free-throws by Sosinski, Gaines then drove to the hole and scored a tough bucket for a 7 to 4 lead.
Then three shots in a row from Hamilton's 6-foot-1 senior guard Michael Garcia and Hamilton would take a 10 to 7 lead.
Gaines then made another beautiful pass to 6-foot-6 junior post Kameron Casey for a lay-up for a 10 to 9 Hamilton lead.
Then Hamilton closed out the quarter on an 8-1 run for an 18 to 10 lead.
The second quarter started and long-range 3-point shots were exchanged by 6-foot junior guard Marco Morales and Garcia, plus a lay-up by Casey for a 21 to 15 Hamilton lead. A lay-up by 6-foot-1 junior Zach Evans would give Hamilton a 23 to 16 lead.
Gaines would make another great pass to 6-foot-2 junior wing Zach Manguso for a 3-point shot for a 24 to 19 lead for Hamilton with 5 minutes left in the first half.
Then Hamilton 6-foot-2 junior wing Luke McCook got hot and scored 7 points in a row for a 31 to 19 lead for Hamilton with 2:30 left in the half.
Gaines finally ended the drought for Chandler and made one free-throw for a 31 to 20 lead.
Hamilton 6-foot-1 senior guard Nate Walker hit a jumper for a 33 to 20 lead. A couple baskets were exchanged for a 35 to 22 lead at the half for Hamilton.
Luke McCook was leading Hamilton with 7 points at the half, and Daquise Gaines had 6 points for Chandler.
The third quarter started and Hamilton 6-foot-4 senior forward Brandon McCall hit a shot, followed by a Gaines' mid-range shot for a 37 to 24 lead. Chandler's McCleery then hit a mid-range shot for a 37 26 lead for Hamilton.
Chandler's Manguso then hit a mid-range shot as he was fading away and got fouled for an “and-1” - narrowing Hamilton's lead and hopefully starting a run for Chandler. It was the complete opposite as Hamilton went on a 12-0 run to basically put this game away. The score was now 50 to 29 for Hamilton.
Chandler's Casey finally made a basket for a 50 to 31 lead for Hamilton after three quarters of play.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter as the entire bench went in for Hamilton, and the final score was 64 to 49 for a nice road win for the Huskies.
Michael Garcia and Nate Walker led the Hamilton Huskies with 13 points each.
Daquise Gaines was terrific in the game with 17 points, 5 assists and 3 steals for the Chandler Wolves, but it was not enough.
