Hillsboro Indians take Round 2 over rival McClain
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Round two of the storied Highland County basketball rivalry for the 2021-22 season goes to the Hillsboro Indians, as they defeated the reigning Frontier Athletic Conference champion McClain Tigers, 50-43.
The defensive battle between the two FAC and Highland County counterparts saw an opening frame where the Indians led by a 9-7 score, as the Tribe didn’t have a lead larger than four points in the opening quarter and the Tigers held the lead once in the same frame.
HHS began the game with the first points of the game off a basket by Spencer Wyckoff, only to see those points equaled from the free-throw line by Wes Potts of McClain for the early tied score.
At the 5:15 mark, the Indians were back in the lead following a bucket from Quintin Captain, but McClain took the lead off a 3-pointer with 3:49 left in the first quarter as Bryson Badgley knocked down the trey.
HHS came back with two points from Canaan Griffith and followed that with a three-point play from Ethan Parry with 1:03 on the clock for a 9-5 Indians’ lead. McClain added two more points in the first with a basket by Badgley.
The second frame picked up with the Indians outscoring the Tigers, 12-11 for a halftime lead of 21-18.
“I’m just overjoyed,” Hillsboro head coach Miles Burton said. “I’m happy for the guys, and, boy, this was a great atmosphere. Credit to our community. Thank you for coming out. It means the world to our guys.
“It's amazing what happens when you can practice. This was our eighth game where we've had three practices, and two of them were during the past week. So during that six-game losing skid, we weren't practicing, and that makes a big difference. Our guys have embraced the challenge of having to maximize the two and a half hours every other day, whenever we're able to get it, and we won this game yesterday. The guys are locked in. These seven seniors aren't done yet.”
HHS held the lead from the start of the second quarter until the 5:11 mark of the frame. McClain kept the lead until the 2:53 mark, until the Indians regained the advantage and kept it until the quarter came to a close.
Hillsboro had a 3-pointer by Griffith, a three-point play from Hunter Price and two points each by Jayse Middleton, Bryce Parsons and Bentley Watson in the second.
McClain in the second quarter had seven points from Badgley and two points each by Seth Wise and Braden Wright.
The score continued to stay close in the third frame with the Indians adding 10 points to their total, while the Tigers scored eight points for a 31-26 Hillsboro lead after three complete quarters.
McClain took possession of the lead early in the third with a put-back basket by Potts and a layup from Kendyll Toney. The Indians quickly took the one-point deficit at 22-21 and turned it into a 24-22 lead off a big-time 3-pointer from Captain with 5:54 left in the frame.
From there, the Indians held on to the lead for the remainder of the frame with a 3-pointer by Parry and two-point baskets by Watson and Captain. McClain had free throws made by Badgley and Toney, plus two-point baskets from Toney, Wright and Potts in the third.
The Indians kept the lead for the remainder of the game, as they didn’t relinquish the lead in the fourth quarter. HHS outscored the Tigers, 19-17 in the final eight minutes of action.
“I think the letdown was really, really obvious,” McClain head coach Joe B. Stewart said. “We fought our guts out for two and a half months to be in a position to win the league, and we did. The result was I think there's a tendency to exhale a little bit. We did, and we did it at a bad time because Hillsboro’s really coming. That’s three really good wins for them this week, and they played impressive basketball tonight.
“Their kids played the game that they came here to play, and on the other hand, you know, we haven't turned the ball over 14 times in two months. We did tonight. We shot it badly, we got out of our offense. It was just not a great night for us. We did not come in here and play McClain basketball. We did not play championship basketball.”
HHS in the fourth had nine points from Price, including a 5-of-6 performance from the free-throw line. Parsons and Captain each made two baskets in the fourth for four points each, and Parry was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
McClain in the fourth frame saw Toney score 12 points (including a 3-pointer) and a 3-pointer from Evann Mischal.
Final scoring by the Tigers for the game included 15 points from Toney and 13 points by Badgley, as they were the MHS two leading scorers. Other McClain final scoring totals included: Wright (six), Potts (four), Mischal (three) and Wise (two).
Price led the Indians with 12 points in the win, while Captain finished with 11 points. Hillsboro’s remaining final scoring included: Parry (eight), Parsons (six), Griffith (five), Watson (four), Middleton (two) and Wyckoff (two).
As a team, the Indians were 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, while the Tigers finished 5-of-16. With the win, the Indians finish the regular season at 11-!1 overall and 5-5 in the FAC.
In JV play on Thursday night, the Indians defeated the Tigers, 39-34. Hillsboro’s leading scorers were Tate Davis with 16 points and Korbin Adams with 10 points. McClain was led by Gavin Warren with nine points and Andrew Potts with eight points.
In freshman action, the Tigers defeated Hillsboro, 20-13 in a two-quarter game. Brayden Hunter led HHS with 10 points, and for McClain, their leading scorer was Conner McCune with eight points.
On Saturday, Feb. 12, the McClain Tigers wrapped up their regular season with a 41-38 FAC win over Chillicothe. The win against CHS leaves the Tigers 8-2 in the FAC.
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The defensive battle between the two FAC and Highland County counterparts saw an opening frame where the Indians led by a 9-7 score, as the Tribe didn’t have a lead larger than four points in the opening quarter and the Tigers held the lead once in the same frame.
HHS began the game with the first points of the game off a basket by Spencer Wyckoff, only to see those points equaled from the free-throw line by Wes Potts of McClain for the early tied score.
At the 5:15 mark, the Indians were back in the lead following a bucket from Quintin Captain, but McClain took the lead off a 3-pointer with 3:49 left in the first quarter as Bryson Badgley knocked down the trey.
HHS came back with two points from Canaan Griffith and followed that with a three-point play from Ethan Parry with 1:03 on the clock for a 9-5 Indians’ lead. McClain added two more points in the first with a basket by Badgley.
The second frame picked up with the Indians outscoring the Tigers, 12-11 for a halftime lead of 21-18.
“I’m just overjoyed,” Hillsboro head coach Miles Burton said. “I’m happy for the guys, and, boy, this was a great atmosphere. Credit to our community. Thank you for coming out. It means the world to our guys.
“It's amazing what happens when you can practice. This was our eighth game where we've had three practices, and two of them were during the past week. So during that six-game losing skid, we weren't practicing, and that makes a big difference. Our guys have embraced the challenge of having to maximize the two and a half hours every other day, whenever we're able to get it, and we won this game yesterday. The guys are locked in. These seven seniors aren't done yet.”
HHS held the lead from the start of the second quarter until the 5:11 mark of the frame. McClain kept the lead until the 2:53 mark, until the Indians regained the advantage and kept it until the quarter came to a close.
Hillsboro had a 3-pointer by Griffith, a three-point play from Hunter Price and two points each by Jayse Middleton, Bryce Parsons and Bentley Watson in the second.
McClain in the second quarter had seven points from Badgley and two points each by Seth Wise and Braden Wright.
The score continued to stay close in the third frame with the Indians adding 10 points to their total, while the Tigers scored eight points for a 31-26 Hillsboro lead after three complete quarters.
McClain took possession of the lead early in the third with a put-back basket by Potts and a layup from Kendyll Toney. The Indians quickly took the one-point deficit at 22-21 and turned it into a 24-22 lead off a big-time 3-pointer from Captain with 5:54 left in the frame.
From there, the Indians held on to the lead for the remainder of the frame with a 3-pointer by Parry and two-point baskets by Watson and Captain. McClain had free throws made by Badgley and Toney, plus two-point baskets from Toney, Wright and Potts in the third.
The Indians kept the lead for the remainder of the game, as they didn’t relinquish the lead in the fourth quarter. HHS outscored the Tigers, 19-17 in the final eight minutes of action.
“I think the letdown was really, really obvious,” McClain head coach Joe B. Stewart said. “We fought our guts out for two and a half months to be in a position to win the league, and we did. The result was I think there's a tendency to exhale a little bit. We did, and we did it at a bad time because Hillsboro’s really coming. That’s three really good wins for them this week, and they played impressive basketball tonight.
“Their kids played the game that they came here to play, and on the other hand, you know, we haven't turned the ball over 14 times in two months. We did tonight. We shot it badly, we got out of our offense. It was just not a great night for us. We did not come in here and play McClain basketball. We did not play championship basketball.”
HHS in the fourth had nine points from Price, including a 5-of-6 performance from the free-throw line. Parsons and Captain each made two baskets in the fourth for four points each, and Parry was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
McClain in the fourth frame saw Toney score 12 points (including a 3-pointer) and a 3-pointer from Evann Mischal.
Final scoring by the Tigers for the game included 15 points from Toney and 13 points by Badgley, as they were the MHS two leading scorers. Other McClain final scoring totals included: Wright (six), Potts (four), Mischal (three) and Wise (two).
Price led the Indians with 12 points in the win, while Captain finished with 11 points. Hillsboro’s remaining final scoring included: Parry (eight), Parsons (six), Griffith (five), Watson (four), Middleton (two) and Wyckoff (two).
As a team, the Indians were 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, while the Tigers finished 5-of-16. With the win, the Indians finish the regular season at 11-!1 overall and 5-5 in the FAC.
In JV play on Thursday night, the Indians defeated the Tigers, 39-34. Hillsboro’s leading scorers were Tate Davis with 16 points and Korbin Adams with 10 points. McClain was led by Gavin Warren with nine points and Andrew Potts with eight points.
In freshman action, the Tigers defeated Hillsboro, 20-13 in a two-quarter game. Brayden Hunter led HHS with 10 points, and for McClain, their leading scorer was Conner McCune with eight points.
On Saturday, Feb. 12, the McClain Tigers wrapped up their regular season with a 41-38 FAC win over Chillicothe. The win against CHS leaves the Tigers 8-2 in the FAC.
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