Hamilton's best run Thursday night in its boys basketball confrontation with rival Basha vaulted it to a 23-18 lead with four minutes left in the second quarter. That was a 5-0 run.

That little burst prompted the game's first time out by Basha. From that point on it was pretty much all Basha as the Bears 11-0 spurt the rest of the half led to a 59-46 win over the Huskies at Basha.

Basha improved to 16-2 overall and 9-1 in power-point games. Hamilton is now 12-5, 8-2. The individual matchups didn't favor Hamilton and that became apparent  the final two quarters and change.

Leading the way for Basha was junior guard Jaron Hopkins, who spread his game-high 27 points evenly over the four periods. Hopkins, who is 6-foot-4, long and quick, was able to impose his inside and outside. The first half he did his damage mostly in the paint and in transition. In the third period he spotted up twice when the defense sagged and drained two threes.

"Didn't matter what we did to try and stop him," Hamilton coach Kevin Hartwig said. "But the key was the run they had just before halftime. We couldn't recover."

Basha coach Brad Pinter wanted a faster pace and wasn't able to get it until Hamilton cooled off shooting from the field in the latter stages of the second quarter.

"It was a battle of styles and they were winning that the first quarter," Pinter said. "We like to play faster and get in transition."

Hamilton center Eric Jacobsen was neutralized by Basha, which trots out 6-8 Torren Jones and 6-9 Maurice Kirby to defend. Jacobsen, 6-8 and headed to ASU, was limited to seven points and eight rebounds. He averageds nearly 17 points a game.

Jones wasn't too effective offensively, making just 1-of-7 shots from the field in the first half. He finished with 12 points, but was dominant on the boards (13) and altering or discouraging shots in the lane.