Indians wear out Golden Eagles
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The speed of the Hillsboro Indians caused the Madison-Plains Golden Eagles to wear down in the second half. At one point in the final two quarters, the Indians held a 25-point advantage, but in the end, the Indians prevailed with a 83-72 South Central Ohio League win Tuesday night at Hillsboro High School.
The depth of the Indians, along with their shooting from beyond the arc, put them in position to use their speed to control the game, allowing them to bounce back after two tough non-league losses over the weekend.
"Our depth, as deep as it is, allowed us to keep guys fresh and play at the pace we played at (Tuesday)," HHS head coach Tim Davis said. "The pace we played showed, with them (MP) getting tired."
The fast-paced game allowed the Tribe (1-0, 1-2) to get open shots from the corner in front of each teams bench (depending on the half) as they made nine total trifectas, with senior Colt Coates knocking down three. Tyrand Cumberland and Devante Ames each had two. Jarrod Hart and Christian Cundiff sank one each.
Cumberland, a junior guard, led all HHS players with 20 points, making seven two-
point buckets, along with the aforementioned two 3-pointers.
"Offensively, this was the best we've looked," Davis said. "We used speed, moved well, and everyone was involved, so that was good to see."
The track meet of a game was evident in the first quarter with both teams combining for 45 points, with HHS leading 26-19.
Ames and Coates put the Golden Eagles on notice with 3-pointers from the corner, right in front of the MP bench, for a 6-2 early lead.
With just over five minutes to play in the first, Cumberland broke an 8-8 tie with inside points in transition. Coates followed with another 3-pointer and Ames used a cross-over move, then leaping into the air for a jumper, putting HHS up 15-8. HHS ended the first on a 6-1 run, making four free throws.
The second frame wrapped up with HHS taking a 43-34 lead into the locker room.
Hart scored for HHS with a 3-pointer, offsetting the points by MP to open up the quarter. Cumberland gave HHS a 10-point advantage and then pushed it to a 12-point lead with a two-point bucket.
MP got on a quick scoring rampage, outscoring HHS 8-2, including a 3-pointer by Damon Glispie. Later in the frame, MP cut the HHS lead to seven points with a basket by Alex Williams. Williams led MP in scoring with 16.
Coates finished the scoring in the first half with a 3-pointer, leaving 42 seconds on the clock.
By the time the third quarter wrapped up, HHS had the game in hand, leading by 20 points at 70-50.
In the third, Cumberland scored 14 of his game-high 20 points, with four jumpers and two treys. Also in the quarter, Cundiff made his 3-pointer with HHS outscoring MP 30-16, nearly doubling the output of the Golden Eagles. Caleb Wilson scored two points in the paint during the quarter.
HHS played almost everyone on the roster in the final frame, with MP winning the eight minute quarter, 22-10. Chase Gilliland, Daniel Hicks, Blake Brown and Dow Kiefer all added points to the HHS lead in the fourth.
Davis said though he saw improvement from the first two games, his team still needs to work on some things on the defensive side.
"Defensively, we need some work," he said. "Madison-Plains plays hard, and we didn't do a good job of stopping them (Tuesday), but again, the biggest thing was our offense. We knocked down some threes and that got our confidence going at the start of the game. In the first two games, we were always battling back.
"Everyone wants to get the lead early. If we can do that, it will help defensively. That wasn't the case (Tuesday), but most nights it will help our defense."
The 1-2 Indians (1-0 in the SCOL) will play at Washington C.H. Friday night against the Blue Lions (0-1, 1-1) in SCOL play.
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In JV play Tuesday, the Indians and Golden Eagles battled to overtime and were on the brink of a second OT period. That was until Ta Captain made a free throw with no time remaining in the OT period, lifting HHS to a 65-64 win.