Hamilton West’s Josh Giddens makes his way into the paint during the Hornets’ 52-37 win Jan. 10, 2012. (Photo by Samantha Sciarrotta.)

The Hamilton High School West boys’ basketball team played with purpose.

The Hornets are aggressive and eager on both sides of the ball, and the Robbinsville High basketball team found out the hard way Jan. 10 during a 52-37 Hamilton West win. The Hornets only relinquished the lead for a few minutes early in the first quarter.

“We were really focused on rebounds and pushing the ball after missed shots on both sides,” West head coach Jason Malloy said. “We didn’t let down.”

The team was led by Lenwood Squire’s 18 points, nine of which came from 3-pointers, and freshman Tyleer Wrenn’s 10.

On the Robbinsville side, Sam Burum kept the Ravens in the game with his 16 points. His height and athleticism allowed him to be involved in most plays. But Burum and the rest of the Ravens’ efforts weren’t enough to pull ahead.

Robbinsville minimized the margin once in each of the first, second and third quarters, but West was always there to turn it back around.

In one instance in the second quarter, the Ravens had closed the West lead to three points. Squire, though, came through with the pressure building, as he hit the first of his three three-point shots to bring the lead to 20-14.

West seemed to hit a big shot like this each time Robbinsville got close to the Hornets.

“We need to work on toughness with the ball,” Robbinsville head coach Byron Conover said. “We can’t make 22 turnovers in a game. We allowed too many second, third and fourth shots.”

The turnovers happened in every form. West intercepted passes, made rebounds and was on the receiving end of offensive fouls. When both sides missed shots, Hornets like Wrenn always seemed to be there to recover the ball.

Especially for a freshman, Wrenn had a massive presence on the court. Malloy said Wrenn’s style of play is important to the team’s success.

“[Wrenn] has been working out with us since the summer,” he said. “It’s huge to have talent like that from a freshman.”

“I just try to build off of my teammates,” Wrenn said. “We played good defense and finished layups. We made the big shots. It was a good win.”

West improved to 3-5 while the Ravens fell to 1-8.

“They’re really starting to play together,” Malloy said. “They’re getting more used to each other, and it shows on the court.”

“We’re learning,” Conover said. “We’re a very young team. There’s only one senior. We’re all learning together.”