Indians move rivalry win streak to a dozen straight
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Nothing came easy for either the Hillsboro Indians or the McClain Tigers Tuesday night … nothing at all. Both teams put on a battle where one would top the other in the third quarter, but it was the host Indians who held onto the lead for the final 9:42 minutes to gain a 55-51 win at HHS.
In front of an energized crowd, both teams put on an energized effort, especially in the second half where tempers flared towards foul calls, the score was tied on one occasion and both Highland County rivals, at one point or another, held onto the lead.
How the win was gained or how the loss occurred was a difference of opinion depending on who you talked to, but the fact of the matter is it was Hillsboro who not only gained their 12th consecutive win over their cross-county rival, but added their second South Central Ohio League win, breaking a losing streak of seven games in league play.
"I think they (MHS) spent so much energy staying in the game and getting to where they could win," Hillsboro head coach Brett Prince said. "I think in those last two or three minutes they got a little bit tired because their zone had more gaps in it because we got some easier looks against it than we did for two-and-a-half quarters.
"We had to work hard to get the win, but any way you can get it … it is still a victory."
Eaton thought the game came down to two things.
"One is their best player (Jarrod Hart) hit a big shot, and credit goes to that individual," Eaton said. "Secondly, I thought every crucial call went against us, and I think those two things affected the outcome. So, I don't think it was fatigue on our part."
The win moves the Indians to a league mark of 2-7 and overall record of 6-8. The Tigers fall to 1-8 in the SCOL and 5-11 overall.
For each team, they had their moments. The first quarter was mostly controlled by the Indians, as they led by a 14-5 score after eight minutes. The Tigers switched up their defense in the second frame, moving to a 1-3-1 look, and that, added with more accuracy on offense, brought the visitors to within seven points of tying the game at halftime, as the Tigers outscored the Tribe, 13-9.
"We thought as the game was played, in a half-court game, we thought that would be to our advantage," Prince said. "We got a little bit of a lead, and they were in the zone, so we decided to bring them out of their zone and attack that way, and it built us a nice lead."
At one point in the first quarter, the Indians led 11-2 and later led 21-10 with 3:24 left in the first half, following a three-point play by Trey Moberly.
"Once we had the lead, Coach Eaton switched it up to the 1-3-1, and we had trouble for two and a half quarters after that," Prince said. "Kudos to him for keeping his team in the game and causing all kinds of havoc on our end."
For how the first half went, the third and fourth quarters was where the game became interesting, heated, physical and fun.
At the start of the fourth, the Tigers jumped closer to tying the score by scoring six straight points to open the quarter, making it a two-point score at 44-42. Those points were from John Turner, Ryan Faulconer, Tyler McGuire and Thomas Schrader.[[In-content Ad]]
"Tyler and Jeremiah (Savage) added some positive energy for us and created some havoc," Eaton said. "They (HHS) are the kind of team that will try to wear you down on offense and try to space the floor, and when you make a poor decision, they will attack you.
"We had to go to the 1-3-1 to keep them from doing that, and it did … we should have gone to it earlier."
Eaton spoke about how the 1-3-1 changed the game.
"It allowed our size to take advantage, but if they have a big post player, that defense won't work," Eaton said. "That's why we were able to spread out and guard them.
"I told the kids at halftime, they (HHS) will make shots in the corner because that's what we're giving up at times, but if they can miss enough we can have a chance at the end, and they hit some big shots and kept the momentum in their favor."
Faulconer led all scorers with a game-high 18 points. Turner followed with 12 points, and McGuire totaled six points off the bench.
Zach Young, who was co-leader in HHS scoring with 12 points, halted the Tigers' scoring run with three straight free-throw conversions on the same trip to the charity stripe. That was answered with a free throw by Faulconer, and later, after Schrader took a charge for the Tigers, Faulconer powered the ball to the hoop with 3:28 on the clock, bringing the Tigers to within two points of tying the score at 49-47.
But, as he has been all season for the Indians, Jarrod Hart was there when his team needed him the most, as the senior captain nailed a wide-open 3-pointer, following numerous passes to set up the shot, with 45.1 left in regulation, giving the Indians a 52-47 lead. Hart finished tied with Young with a team-high 12 points.
Jordan Captain made two free throws for the Indians, and with 13 seconds remaining, the final HHS point came from Young from the free-throw line. Faulconer brought MHS closer with a layup, but time ran out on the Tigers.
As for the third quarter, it set up the aforementioned fourth frame, starting with a 3-pointer by Turner. Later in the third, Turner stole the ball and scored two points on a fast break, as that was part of an MHS run of nine points as it was concluded with a 3-pointer by Brent Shannon (who totaled nine points) to bring the Tigers within one point of tying the score at 28-27 with 3:21 left in the quarter.
The trey by Shannon began back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers in the game. Following the 3-pointer by Shannon, Reese Leibreich sank one for the Indians, and that was answered with a trey by Turner, putting the Tigers in the lead for the second time at 31-30 with 2:46 left in the third.
Captain tied the score at 31 with a free throw, and Leibreich put HHS ahead by two points with consecutive free-throw conversions.
McGuire and Austin Bagshaw each scored three points for their respective teams, and Hart put the Indians ahead 39-34 with a three-point play.
A charge call was called on the Tigers, which in turn resulted in a technical foul on the McClain Tigers' bench, leading to Hart sinking two free throws and Bagshaw ending the third with a 3-pointer, putting the Indians ahead by eight points.
"I'm excited I saw our energy level as high as it was," Eaton said. "We've been prone to start poor and not have that energy level continuously. We started off poor but continued to play with energy and passion, but just dug ourselves too big of a hole, and that's a credit to Hillsboro."
In the game, also scoring for HHS were Latrell Haithcock and Trey Moberly with seven points each in the first half.
In JV play, the Tigers defeated HHS, 31-23. Leading MHS were Reid Garrison with 14 points and Shawn Haddox with eight. For HHS, their leading scorer was Chase Reed with 10 points.
In the freshman game, MHS won by a 35-33 score over HHS. Randall Mischal led the Tigers with 13 points, followed by Cody Hardesty with 11. For HHS, DJ Brown scored 12 points, and Jacob Deatley added nine.
The Indians will host the Washington Blue Lions on Friday at HHS. The Tigers are scheduled to host the Clinton-Massie Falcons, Friday, both being SCOL games.
In front of an energized crowd, both teams put on an energized effort, especially in the second half where tempers flared towards foul calls, the score was tied on one occasion and both Highland County rivals, at one point or another, held onto the lead.
How the win was gained or how the loss occurred was a difference of opinion depending on who you talked to, but the fact of the matter is it was Hillsboro who not only gained their 12th consecutive win over their cross-county rival, but added their second South Central Ohio League win, breaking a losing streak of seven games in league play.
"I think they (MHS) spent so much energy staying in the game and getting to where they could win," Hillsboro head coach Brett Prince said. "I think in those last two or three minutes they got a little bit tired because their zone had more gaps in it because we got some easier looks against it than we did for two-and-a-half quarters.
"We had to work hard to get the win, but any way you can get it … it is still a victory."
Eaton thought the game came down to two things.
"One is their best player (Jarrod Hart) hit a big shot, and credit goes to that individual," Eaton said. "Secondly, I thought every crucial call went against us, and I think those two things affected the outcome. So, I don't think it was fatigue on our part."
The win moves the Indians to a league mark of 2-7 and overall record of 6-8. The Tigers fall to 1-8 in the SCOL and 5-11 overall.
For each team, they had their moments. The first quarter was mostly controlled by the Indians, as they led by a 14-5 score after eight minutes. The Tigers switched up their defense in the second frame, moving to a 1-3-1 look, and that, added with more accuracy on offense, brought the visitors to within seven points of tying the game at halftime, as the Tigers outscored the Tribe, 13-9.
"We thought as the game was played, in a half-court game, we thought that would be to our advantage," Prince said. "We got a little bit of a lead, and they were in the zone, so we decided to bring them out of their zone and attack that way, and it built us a nice lead."
At one point in the first quarter, the Indians led 11-2 and later led 21-10 with 3:24 left in the first half, following a three-point play by Trey Moberly.
"Once we had the lead, Coach Eaton switched it up to the 1-3-1, and we had trouble for two and a half quarters after that," Prince said. "Kudos to him for keeping his team in the game and causing all kinds of havoc on our end."
For how the first half went, the third and fourth quarters was where the game became interesting, heated, physical and fun.
At the start of the fourth, the Tigers jumped closer to tying the score by scoring six straight points to open the quarter, making it a two-point score at 44-42. Those points were from John Turner, Ryan Faulconer, Tyler McGuire and Thomas Schrader.[[In-content Ad]]
"Tyler and Jeremiah (Savage) added some positive energy for us and created some havoc," Eaton said. "They (HHS) are the kind of team that will try to wear you down on offense and try to space the floor, and when you make a poor decision, they will attack you.
"We had to go to the 1-3-1 to keep them from doing that, and it did … we should have gone to it earlier."
Eaton spoke about how the 1-3-1 changed the game.
"It allowed our size to take advantage, but if they have a big post player, that defense won't work," Eaton said. "That's why we were able to spread out and guard them.
"I told the kids at halftime, they (HHS) will make shots in the corner because that's what we're giving up at times, but if they can miss enough we can have a chance at the end, and they hit some big shots and kept the momentum in their favor."
Faulconer led all scorers with a game-high 18 points. Turner followed with 12 points, and McGuire totaled six points off the bench.
Zach Young, who was co-leader in HHS scoring with 12 points, halted the Tigers' scoring run with three straight free-throw conversions on the same trip to the charity stripe. That was answered with a free throw by Faulconer, and later, after Schrader took a charge for the Tigers, Faulconer powered the ball to the hoop with 3:28 on the clock, bringing the Tigers to within two points of tying the score at 49-47.
But, as he has been all season for the Indians, Jarrod Hart was there when his team needed him the most, as the senior captain nailed a wide-open 3-pointer, following numerous passes to set up the shot, with 45.1 left in regulation, giving the Indians a 52-47 lead. Hart finished tied with Young with a team-high 12 points.
Jordan Captain made two free throws for the Indians, and with 13 seconds remaining, the final HHS point came from Young from the free-throw line. Faulconer brought MHS closer with a layup, but time ran out on the Tigers.
As for the third quarter, it set up the aforementioned fourth frame, starting with a 3-pointer by Turner. Later in the third, Turner stole the ball and scored two points on a fast break, as that was part of an MHS run of nine points as it was concluded with a 3-pointer by Brent Shannon (who totaled nine points) to bring the Tigers within one point of tying the score at 28-27 with 3:21 left in the quarter.
The trey by Shannon began back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers in the game. Following the 3-pointer by Shannon, Reese Leibreich sank one for the Indians, and that was answered with a trey by Turner, putting the Tigers in the lead for the second time at 31-30 with 2:46 left in the third.
Captain tied the score at 31 with a free throw, and Leibreich put HHS ahead by two points with consecutive free-throw conversions.
McGuire and Austin Bagshaw each scored three points for their respective teams, and Hart put the Indians ahead 39-34 with a three-point play.
A charge call was called on the Tigers, which in turn resulted in a technical foul on the McClain Tigers' bench, leading to Hart sinking two free throws and Bagshaw ending the third with a 3-pointer, putting the Indians ahead by eight points.
"I'm excited I saw our energy level as high as it was," Eaton said. "We've been prone to start poor and not have that energy level continuously. We started off poor but continued to play with energy and passion, but just dug ourselves too big of a hole, and that's a credit to Hillsboro."
In the game, also scoring for HHS were Latrell Haithcock and Trey Moberly with seven points each in the first half.
In JV play, the Tigers defeated HHS, 31-23. Leading MHS were Reid Garrison with 14 points and Shawn Haddox with eight. For HHS, their leading scorer was Chase Reed with 10 points.
In the freshman game, MHS won by a 35-33 score over HHS. Randall Mischal led the Tigers with 13 points, followed by Cody Hardesty with 11. For HHS, DJ Brown scored 12 points, and Jacob Deatley added nine.
The Indians will host the Washington Blue Lions on Friday at HHS. The Tigers are scheduled to host the Clinton-Massie Falcons, Friday, both being SCOL games.