Coming into Monday night’s rivalry matchup between Hamilton and Menomonee Falls, everyone was talking about Falls junior standout J.P Tokoto and his visit to the University of North Carolina that caused him to miss Monday’s game.
By the end of the night, everyone was talking about Hamilton sophomore Tony Gumina and what he did right in his own backyard.
The 6-foot-1 forward poured in a season-high 26 points, including the game-winning bucket with 14.3 left on the clock, to give Hamilton a 54-52 win over the Indians.
Find out what's happening in Sussexwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“From last week, this is the game we’ve had our minds set on,” Gumina said. “Falls is one of the biggest rivalries in the state. Coming off of football season, we had momentum. (In the) first game against Falls (earlier in the season), that didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but we came back, and this is probably the most memorable game of my life.”
The sophomore was surrounded on the court after the game by anyone and everyone trying to congratulate him on a marvelous performance.
Find out what's happening in Sussexwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
And rightfully so.
Gumina scored 20 of his 26 in the second half, and he was the key factor to a 16-5 run by the Chargers to end the game.
“Tony was the difference in the game,” Hamilton coach Andy Cerroni said. “He had six (points) at half and he probably should’ve had 16. But he stayed with it and finished very well in the second half and they did a nice job of finding him.
“(Falls) didn’t have an answer for him and they didn’t really have anybody that could slow him down. Give our kids credit that they realized that and found him in pretty good situations.”
As dominant as Gumina was in the paint, his coming out party almost wasn’t enough for Hamilton (8-13 overall, 5-8 Greater Metro Conference).
Falls (10-11 overall, 7-6 GMC) launched the ball from behind the arc all night long and often found the bottom of the net.
During a 2-minute, 27-second span in the third quarter, Falls senior Jalen Ramey hit four consecutive shots from downtown to springboard the Indians from being tied at 30-all to being up 44-36.
Another three-pointer by classmate C.J. Malone on the ensuing possession gave Falls the biggest lead of the night, at 47-38, with just over one minute remaining in the third quarter.
From there on out, though, the Indians’ hot shooting cooled off and Hamilton made their run that changed the game.
Hamilton freshman Brady Ellingson sandwiched a pair of mid-range jumpers with a free throw to start the Charger comeback. Gumina finished it, scoring all but two of his team’s points in the final quarter.
“In the halftime adjustments, we talked about offensive schemes, and I do have a perimeter game, but my game is more down low,” Gumina said. “(Coach) said ‘Hey, just keep pounding the ball, use the glass and finish strong. These guys can’t handle you.’”
Monday's win is the second consecutive win for Hamilton and the Chargers look to make it three in a row Friday night, when they host Wauwatosa East in their final regular season game of the year.
Box score:
Menomonee Falls: 16-9-22-5—52
Hamilton: 14-6-21-13—54
Menomonee Falls: Malafa 2 0-1 4, Malone 3 0-0 18, Oleszak 2 1-2 5, Brandon Ramey 0 0-0 6, Jalen Ramey 2 0-0 16, Scroggins 0 1-3 1, Weyenberg 1 0-0 2.
Hamilton: Ellingson 6 1-0 13, Goecks 1 0-0 2, Gumina 12 2-3 26, Hagenow 1 2-2 4, Knueppel 2 0-0 4, Patterson 1 0-0 5.
Three pointers: Menomonee Falls – Malone (4), Brandon Ramey (2), Jalen Ramey (4). Hamilton – Patterson.
