Hamilton Community Schools

December 24th 2025 The Hamilton Marines girls varsity basketball team wrapped up a competitive two-day stretch at the Cougar Classic on Monday and Tuesday, December 22–23, showcasing grit, growth, and strong defensive effort against quality opponents. Hamilton opened tournament play on Monday by traveling to Lakeland Christian Academy for a rematch with the host Cougars. Just weeks earlier, LCA had handed the Lady Marines a 12-point loss, but the second meeting delivered a very different outcome. Hamilton battled its way to a thrilling 27–26 victory in a true nail-biter that came down to the final possession, with the Marines coming up with multiple late defensive stops to seal the win. Senior Tristen Creager led the way with 9 points, followed by TeigAnn Freed with 7, freshman Lydia Hicks with 5, and Marissa Mercer, Heidi Richter, and Lilli Dager each adding 2 points. Hamilton led 10–9 after the first quarter, carried a 17–13 advantage into halftime, and extended the lead to 23–18 after three quarters. The victory pushed the Lady Marines’ winning streak to three straight games. Later Monday night, Hamilton faced St. Thomas More in the second game of the evening. St. Thomas More ultimately pulled away for a 54–35 win, but not before the Marines made a strong push. Hamilton trimmed the deficit to just three points with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter before running out of steam down the stretch. Marissa Mercer paced the offense with 14 points, Tristen Creager added 9, TeigAnn Freed scored 6, Brenna Mercer had 4, Gianna Ceci finished with 2, and Lydia Hicks chipped in 1 point. On Tuesday, the Lady Marines traveled to Grace College to play for third place against Bethany Christian. Despite an outstanding defensive effort—highlighted by freshmen Lydia Hicks and Heidi Richter shadowing Bethany’s top scorer all over the court and holding her to just 7 points—Hamilton struggled offensively and fell 32–27. TeigAnn Freed led the Marines with 8 points, followed by Tristen Creager with 6, Lydia Hicks with 4, Gianna Ceci with 3, and Lilli Dager, Heidi Richter, and Marissa Mercer each scoring 2 points. The tournament concluded on a high note for Hamilton as Tristen Creager was named to the All-Tournament Team, an honor voted on by six individuals who attended all girls games over the two days. Creager averaged 8 points per game throughout the event. The Lady Marines now head into a well-earned Christmas break before returning to action with two Ohio matchups. Hamilton will host Edon on Friday, January 2nd at noon, followed by a road trip to Hicksville on Saturday, January 3rd, also with a noon tip-off.