Hillsboro outmuscled by Valley at Zane Trace Tip-Off Classic
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CHILLICOTHE — The Valley Indians showed at this point of the season they were stronger of the two teams with the same nickname Saturday as they outmuscled and took control of the game's tempo for a 71-47 win over the Hillsboro Indians in the Zane Trace Tip-Off Classic.
Valley (1-0) took complete control of the game in the first frame as they led 23-9 at the completion of the first, and from there, they completely controlled all aspects against a young HHS team who has four new starters in their lineup this season.
Leading VHS in scoring was Hayden Dunn with 18 points, followed by Jordan West with 13 and Ethan Clark-Holbrook with 10.
"Their size (VHS) and strength was a difference in this game," HHS head coach Brett Prince said. "When we defended them well, we did well, but they were able to get many offensive rebounds on us, and we can't give a team like Valley that many opportunities.
"I liked our effort so far after two games, but we need guys to step up. We have five on the floor, but not everyone is playing basketball at a varsity level right now. We need to find out who wants to play at this level quickly because our schedule doesn't get any easier."
The score was 5-0 early on with Dunn, Will Howard and Chris Flowers leading the charge for Valley. HHS countered with their first point of the game off a free throw from Trey Moberly and then a layup from Reese Leibreich, who took the ball the length of the court. Leibreich totaled eight points, finishing 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
From there, Dunn completed a three-point play, and a layup from Bryan Rolfe put VHS ahead 10-3 with 4:42 left in the first frame.
Hillsboro's Jordan Captain stopped the run of points by VHS, but again, the Valley pressure on defense led to points on the offensive side as they had points from Holbrook and points in transition by Zach Shope while being fouled with 2:56 on the first-quarter clock. A free throw by Shope completed the three-point play for a VHS lead of 16-5.
VHS wrapped up the first by outscoring HHS 7-4, including a 3-pointer from Jordan West and a 14-point lead.
[[In-content Ad]]
HHS (1-1) scored 11 points in the second from a combination of scoring by Austin Bagshaw, Jarrod Hart and Zach Young with Hart totaling seven of those points.
Hart led HHS with 15 points as he was the lone HHS player to score in double figures.
As for the VHS second, they took a lead of 31-20 after 16 minutes with Ryan Brown, West and Kyle Miller totaling their eight points in the frame.
In the final two quarters, VHS outscored the HHS Indians 40-27, including a third quarter of 21 and a fourth frame of 19 points. HHS had 11 third-quarter points and 16 points in the fourth-quarter scoring.
The HHS Indians never got into any rhythm in the second half, with five of the 11 points in the third coming from the free-throw line with Wes Sears making 3-of-4 in that span. Hart was 2-of-2 from the line in the third, while also scoring a two-point bucket. Also in the third for HHS Latrell Haithcock and Leibreich scored two points each.
In the fourth for HHS, as Valley had the game well in hand, Leibreich went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, and Hart was 2-of-4 in the same quarter from the stripe. Alex Branscome scored one point in the fourth, while Bagshaw knocked down a 3-pointer. Haithcock had four points in the final quarter, and Sears made two free throws.
"I thought we had decent play from our bench," Prince said. "The bench players played well, and when they did that, good things happened."
The Valley second half was completely different as they had seven players score points, including Dunn who totaled 13 points in the second half, with 11 points in the third. Clark-Holbrook made his second 3-pointer in the fourth. Also scoring in the final half were Flowers, Rolfe, West, Cole Deletell and Caleb Miller.
VHS finished 10-of-13 from the free-throw line. HHS went 17-of-25.
HHS will play again on Wednesday as they will host the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs in a non-league Highland County matchup.
Valley (1-0) took complete control of the game in the first frame as they led 23-9 at the completion of the first, and from there, they completely controlled all aspects against a young HHS team who has four new starters in their lineup this season.
Leading VHS in scoring was Hayden Dunn with 18 points, followed by Jordan West with 13 and Ethan Clark-Holbrook with 10.
"Their size (VHS) and strength was a difference in this game," HHS head coach Brett Prince said. "When we defended them well, we did well, but they were able to get many offensive rebounds on us, and we can't give a team like Valley that many opportunities.
"I liked our effort so far after two games, but we need guys to step up. We have five on the floor, but not everyone is playing basketball at a varsity level right now. We need to find out who wants to play at this level quickly because our schedule doesn't get any easier."
The score was 5-0 early on with Dunn, Will Howard and Chris Flowers leading the charge for Valley. HHS countered with their first point of the game off a free throw from Trey Moberly and then a layup from Reese Leibreich, who took the ball the length of the court. Leibreich totaled eight points, finishing 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
From there, Dunn completed a three-point play, and a layup from Bryan Rolfe put VHS ahead 10-3 with 4:42 left in the first frame.
Hillsboro's Jordan Captain stopped the run of points by VHS, but again, the Valley pressure on defense led to points on the offensive side as they had points from Holbrook and points in transition by Zach Shope while being fouled with 2:56 on the first-quarter clock. A free throw by Shope completed the three-point play for a VHS lead of 16-5.
VHS wrapped up the first by outscoring HHS 7-4, including a 3-pointer from Jordan West and a 14-point lead.
[[In-content Ad]]
HHS (1-1) scored 11 points in the second from a combination of scoring by Austin Bagshaw, Jarrod Hart and Zach Young with Hart totaling seven of those points.
Hart led HHS with 15 points as he was the lone HHS player to score in double figures.
As for the VHS second, they took a lead of 31-20 after 16 minutes with Ryan Brown, West and Kyle Miller totaling their eight points in the frame.
In the final two quarters, VHS outscored the HHS Indians 40-27, including a third quarter of 21 and a fourth frame of 19 points. HHS had 11 third-quarter points and 16 points in the fourth-quarter scoring.
The HHS Indians never got into any rhythm in the second half, with five of the 11 points in the third coming from the free-throw line with Wes Sears making 3-of-4 in that span. Hart was 2-of-2 from the line in the third, while also scoring a two-point bucket. Also in the third for HHS Latrell Haithcock and Leibreich scored two points each.
In the fourth for HHS, as Valley had the game well in hand, Leibreich went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, and Hart was 2-of-4 in the same quarter from the stripe. Alex Branscome scored one point in the fourth, while Bagshaw knocked down a 3-pointer. Haithcock had four points in the final quarter, and Sears made two free throws.
"I thought we had decent play from our bench," Prince said. "The bench players played well, and when they did that, good things happened."
The Valley second half was completely different as they had seven players score points, including Dunn who totaled 13 points in the second half, with 11 points in the third. Clark-Holbrook made his second 3-pointer in the fourth. Also scoring in the final half were Flowers, Rolfe, West, Cole Deletell and Caleb Miller.
VHS finished 10-of-13 from the free-throw line. HHS went 17-of-25.
HHS will play again on Wednesday as they will host the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs in a non-league Highland County matchup.