Hamilton's Wednesday basketball game footage won’t find its way to a trash bin.

Poor performances still offer valuable lessons, but what Hamilton won’t find much on the tape are baskets. The same goes for A.B. Miller High of Fontana, Calif.

At least Hamilton’s first-year coach, Doug Harris, won’t have to comb through the game film to explain his team’s struggles during the Desert Edge Scorpion Challenge Tournament final in Goodyear. A.B. Miller edged Hamilton 24-23 after 32 frustrating minutes of play.

But each teams’ defense deserves an assist for the pedestrian scoring output. A.B. Miller’s low post players had a rough night against Hamilton’s zone, and Hamilton’s offense stalled at times because of A.B. Miller’s man-to-man, full court pressure. 

Hamilton was patient on offense and didn't turn the ball over much but the shots didn't fall.

“I don’t think I’ve been part of a game that was that low scoring,” Harris said. “But hats off to their team. They are a good ball club and very disciplined. Hats off to my team. I thought they worked really hard. I thought we had a good tournament. We just came up short. We missed some layups and (3 of 6) free throws at key times, and it cost us.”

A.B. Miller scored only one basket in the first period as well as in the fourth period.

But that final shot was the game winner. Senior guard Anthony Garcia’s three with 22 seconds left put his team up for good and gave A.B. Miller’s vocal fans something they craved — the sweet sound of the ball swishing through the net.

Hamilton had two chances near the end to take the lead but Roman Daily was whistled for a charge in the lane and a three-quarter court, final second heave wasn’t released in time. But it didn’t matter, like most of Hamilton’s shots, the final attempt missed the mark.

Hamilton did get off to a promising start and led 9-2 after the first period. But in the second period A.B. Miller (9-2 overall) went ahead 14-12 after scoring on consecutive possessions during the only time in the game.   

“The biggest things right now are learning how to close out a game, how to take control of a game and win a game,” Harris said. “We did three times this week but failed tonight."