Lady Indians fall in sectional quarterfinals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WASHINGTON C.H. — The 2022-23 season for the Hillsboro Lady Indians came to a close Monday evening, as they were defeated by the host Washington Lady Blue Lions, 49-35 in the Division II SE District Sectional quarterfinals.
In the game played in Washington Court House, the Hillsboro squad trailed early as the Lady Blue Lions led 15-4 at the conclusion of the first quarter, and at one point in the opening frame held leads of 13-1 and 15-1.
Washington’s points came with Natalie Woods scoring eight points in the quarter with two 3-pointers and a two-point bucket. Maggi Wall scored five points in the opening frame (including a 3-pointer), and Megan Sever scored two points.
Hillsboro’s first-quarter scoring came with a free throw made by Kobie Miles with 2:57 on the clock and a 3-pointer from Addyson Miles just before the end of the first frame.
“We definitely got off to a really slow start,” Hillsboro head coach Heather Storer said. “It took a while for the girls to get going, and anytime you dig a hole that early it is really hard to get out of, especially when you have a team like Court House that has quickness, speed and aggressive kids.
“I thought they fought well for a while, then got tired and struggled on that end, so digging that hole early hurt us. Credit to Court House for putting it to us quick.”
Washington never relinquished the lead in the second frame, leading by nine points at halftime as Hillsboro outscored the Lady Blue Lions, 9-7 in the quarter.
Both teams had their share of struggles with turnovers and missed opportunities in the scoring column in the second frame, but it was Hillsboro starting the second with a basket by Blake Herdman, and after two points by the Lady Blue Lions, Hillsboro’s Peighton Bledsoe had a three-point play with 7:02 left in the quarter.
HHS made it a five-point deficit with a 3-pointer from Kyra Boyd, but Washington answered at the 3:32 mark of the frame with a 3-pointer from Allie Mongold.
The final minute of the second frame saw Hillsboro’s Maddie Taylor sink a free throw, while Washington’s Sever had a steal and basket with 19 seconds left in the frame, putting the Lady Blue Lions ahead by nine points at halftime with a score in favor of Washington, 22-13.
The host Washington team outscored HHS, 14-9 in the third quarter, taking a 14-point lead at 36-22.
Hillsboro’s nine points consisted of a 3-pointer from Herdman, four points by Addyson Miles and two points by Rylie Scott.
For Washington in the third, Calleigh Wead-Salmi scored six points, while teammates Mongold, Eliana Racine, Sever and Wall each scored two points.
The fourth quarter was even with each team scoring 13 points. Washington had six more points by Wead-Salmi, two points from Kaithlyn Maquiling, two points by Mongold and one point each by Racine, Sever and Wall.
Hillsboro’s final-quarter points consisted of five points by Kayla Seeling, four points by Taylor, two points from Bledsoe and one point each by Kallie Fraley and Herdman.
For the game, the Lady Indians were led in scoring by Addyson Miles with seven points, followed by Herdman with six points, and with five points each were Seeling, Bledsoe and Taylor.
Boyd totaled three points for HHS, and the rest of the Lady Indians’ scoring totals were Boyd (three), Scott (two), Kobie Miles (one) and Fraley (one).
As a team, HHS was 9-of-16 from the free-throw line, while also totaling seven two-point field goals and four 3-pointers.
Washington’s leading scorer was Wead-Salmi with 12 points, followed by Mongold with nine points, and with eight points each were Woods and Wall. The rest of the final scoring totals for the Lady Blue Lions was Maquiling (two), Racine (three) and Sever (seven).
As a team, Washington totaled 13 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and they were 11-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Next for Washington is the sectional semifinals as they travel to Proctorville to take on the No. 1 seeded and 22-0 Fairland Lady Dragons at 7 p.m.
The Lady Indians end the season at 4-19 overall, as the team had no seniors on the roster.
“My first year at Hillsboro we started off completely fresh, and we tried to get them to understand my mentality as a coach and for me to understand what each of these kids can do, and that took a growing period of time,” Storer said. “I feel like that was up until Christmas, and then we hit this point where everything started to click as a team, and the kids started to totally click and understand what we wanted on the defensive end and the offensive end.
“We finally found what works for us, and it has been a really fun season, and they are a great group of girls. It is also tough to finish out once you’ve made so much progress, but hopefully we can carry that into next season.
“The exciting thing is we have a lot of kids already talking about putting in the work for next season, and we were super young this season,” Storer continued. “We didn’t take that as a deficit, but we are looking to grow on that. This was a growing year for us, and we are going to continue to grow on that and get better.”
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In the game played in Washington Court House, the Hillsboro squad trailed early as the Lady Blue Lions led 15-4 at the conclusion of the first quarter, and at one point in the opening frame held leads of 13-1 and 15-1.
Washington’s points came with Natalie Woods scoring eight points in the quarter with two 3-pointers and a two-point bucket. Maggi Wall scored five points in the opening frame (including a 3-pointer), and Megan Sever scored two points.
Hillsboro’s first-quarter scoring came with a free throw made by Kobie Miles with 2:57 on the clock and a 3-pointer from Addyson Miles just before the end of the first frame.
“We definitely got off to a really slow start,” Hillsboro head coach Heather Storer said. “It took a while for the girls to get going, and anytime you dig a hole that early it is really hard to get out of, especially when you have a team like Court House that has quickness, speed and aggressive kids.
“I thought they fought well for a while, then got tired and struggled on that end, so digging that hole early hurt us. Credit to Court House for putting it to us quick.”
Washington never relinquished the lead in the second frame, leading by nine points at halftime as Hillsboro outscored the Lady Blue Lions, 9-7 in the quarter.
Both teams had their share of struggles with turnovers and missed opportunities in the scoring column in the second frame, but it was Hillsboro starting the second with a basket by Blake Herdman, and after two points by the Lady Blue Lions, Hillsboro’s Peighton Bledsoe had a three-point play with 7:02 left in the quarter.
HHS made it a five-point deficit with a 3-pointer from Kyra Boyd, but Washington answered at the 3:32 mark of the frame with a 3-pointer from Allie Mongold.
The final minute of the second frame saw Hillsboro’s Maddie Taylor sink a free throw, while Washington’s Sever had a steal and basket with 19 seconds left in the frame, putting the Lady Blue Lions ahead by nine points at halftime with a score in favor of Washington, 22-13.
The host Washington team outscored HHS, 14-9 in the third quarter, taking a 14-point lead at 36-22.
Hillsboro’s nine points consisted of a 3-pointer from Herdman, four points by Addyson Miles and two points by Rylie Scott.
For Washington in the third, Calleigh Wead-Salmi scored six points, while teammates Mongold, Eliana Racine, Sever and Wall each scored two points.
The fourth quarter was even with each team scoring 13 points. Washington had six more points by Wead-Salmi, two points from Kaithlyn Maquiling, two points by Mongold and one point each by Racine, Sever and Wall.
Hillsboro’s final-quarter points consisted of five points by Kayla Seeling, four points by Taylor, two points from Bledsoe and one point each by Kallie Fraley and Herdman.
For the game, the Lady Indians were led in scoring by Addyson Miles with seven points, followed by Herdman with six points, and with five points each were Seeling, Bledsoe and Taylor.
Boyd totaled three points for HHS, and the rest of the Lady Indians’ scoring totals were Boyd (three), Scott (two), Kobie Miles (one) and Fraley (one).
As a team, HHS was 9-of-16 from the free-throw line, while also totaling seven two-point field goals and four 3-pointers.
Washington’s leading scorer was Wead-Salmi with 12 points, followed by Mongold with nine points, and with eight points each were Woods and Wall. The rest of the final scoring totals for the Lady Blue Lions was Maquiling (two), Racine (three) and Sever (seven).
As a team, Washington totaled 13 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and they were 11-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Next for Washington is the sectional semifinals as they travel to Proctorville to take on the No. 1 seeded and 22-0 Fairland Lady Dragons at 7 p.m.
The Lady Indians end the season at 4-19 overall, as the team had no seniors on the roster.
“My first year at Hillsboro we started off completely fresh, and we tried to get them to understand my mentality as a coach and for me to understand what each of these kids can do, and that took a growing period of time,” Storer said. “I feel like that was up until Christmas, and then we hit this point where everything started to click as a team, and the kids started to totally click and understand what we wanted on the defensive end and the offensive end.
“We finally found what works for us, and it has been a really fun season, and they are a great group of girls. It is also tough to finish out once you’ve made so much progress, but hopefully we can carry that into next season.
“The exciting thing is we have a lot of kids already talking about putting in the work for next season, and we were super young this season,” Storer continued. “We didn’t take that as a deficit, but we are looking to grow on that. This was a growing year for us, and we are going to continue to grow on that and get better.”
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