By Bill Alden

When the Hun School boys’ basketball team hosted Peddie in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) quarterfinals last Thursday, Seth Clarke spent some of the first half lying on the ground, using a foam roller to deal with some lower back pain.

But when Hun junior forward Clarke was on the court in the first half, he sparked the fourth-seeded Raiders, scoring 15 points as they jumped out to a 40-28 lead over the fifth-seeded Panthers, overcoming an early 11-3 deficit.

“It was rough going down, we fought through adversity, kept our heads up and did what we had to do,” said Clarke. “My boys trusted me and I trust in God. It worked out.”

Hun faced more adversity as it got outscored 28-14 in the third quarter to find itself trailing 56-54 entering the fourth.

“I feel like the message going into the fourth was just keep our heads up,” said Clarke. “We knew we were able to compete and we knew what we had to do. That is all it was.”

Clarke kept competing as Hun battled back, knotting the game at 69-69 in the waning seconds of regulation, slicing to the basket for a lay-up off on an in-bounds pass from Blake Hargrove.

“I said to Blake, ‘Hey you trust me, you want me to come in here and lay this up,’” recalled Clarke. “He said, ‘Yeah I trust you’ and I was, ‘All right, go do it.’”

But Peddie made the last shot of the night as Gabe Hornberger drained a 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left to give the Falcons a 72-69 win.

“That was good shot; it happens, it is basketball,” said Clarke, reflecting on the setback.

While Clarke was disappointed by the result, he was proud of his effort.

“My mindset personally was just to score and help the team any way possible — defensively, offensively, whatever it may be,” said Clarke, who ended up with 27 points in the defeat.

Clarke, a star defensive end for the Hun football team who has received several D-I college offers, enjoys juggling the two sports and brings some gridiron ferocity to the court.

“It is good,” said Clarke. “I have been doing it my whole life, it has never been a hard thing for me. I feel like my role ever since that first practice this summer with the boys, is just bring energy. It is bring energy, be a dog, and do what I have got to do.”

Hun head coach Jon Stone liked the energy his players displayed in the early stages of the Peddie game.

“I think we were excited, you always get excited for the postseason,” said Stone. “We were ready to play. We showed we were ready in the first half. Our guys responded. We were playing well in a good rhythm.”

Stone credited Clarke with finding a rhythm in the paint.

“Seth is incredibly difficult to defend inside,” said Stone. “He finishes around the basket, he shoots a high percentage. He was even making his free throws tonight. He plays hard.”

Heading into the fourth quarter, Stone was looking for his squad to take better care of the ball.

“I just wanted to stay the course and stop turning the ball over,” said Stone. “Our turnovers are what got us in trouble. We gave up a few too many offensive rebounds which hurt us, especially down the stretch.”

Sophomore guard Hargrove starred down the stretch for Hun, scoring eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

“We have a lot of confidence in the kid,” said Stone of Hargrove. “He played well and made some shots for us. Unfortunately they had the last shot.”

The Raiders will get another shot at Peddie as fourth-seeded Hun will be hosting the fifth-seeded Falcons in the first round of the Prep Open tournament on February 19.

“We play these same guys in a week, hopefully we can be better,” said Stone.

Clarke, for his part, is confident that Hun will play better in the rematch with Peddie.

“We are going to regroup, we have practice tomorrow and Monday so we are going to come together,” said Clarke. “As long as we keep our heads up, we are going to take this thing all of the way, that is how I feel. As long as we stick together, we are a team.”