Lady Indians close, but fall to Washington
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The path the Hillsboro Lady Indians are taking this season became a bit more clear Wednesday evening. Even though they lost to the Washington Lady Blue Lions, 55-52 in their South Central Ohio League game, they improved over their previous effort and had a shot to tie or win the game in the final seconds.
Neither team trailed by more than six points the entire game, and for Washington, they made the shots in transition and the put-back buckets, which in turn was something the Lady Indians are still working on to improve as their season continues.
HHS falls to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the SCOL. Washington moves to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the league.
"We had a couple lapses in each half," Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly said. "We would turn the ball over, rushed our passes and didn't execute when we needed to.
"I will say this … our girls didn't quit, and we had an opportunity to win this game. I saw us do a lot of things a lot better."
The game was close for the entire time on the scoreboard with HHS leading 14-13 at the conclusion of the opening frame, followed by the Lady Blue Lions leading 24-23 at the half. After three quarters, Washington still held on to a three-point advantage at 38-35.
To explain how even the game was, each team scored 17 points apiece in the fourth quarter.
Washington was led by Chelsea Warning with 14 points, followed by Carleigh Chaffins at 11 points.
HHS had the high scorers for the game with Kaylynn Bell totaling 18 points and Trista Rhodes with 15. Hannah Kibler finished with 11.
"Washington had a couple kids step up and put the game on their shoulders, so I have to credit them," Moberly said. "Our kids are tired (three games in six days), and we've played a lot in a short amount of time."
HHS will play three more games in the next eight days, including a game Saturday night at London.
The opening quarter on Wednesday for the Lady Indians saw them take the lead with 3:55 left on the clock with a put-back bucket by Madison Snyder, then increase their lead to three with 3:17 remaining off a jumper from Kibler. Another big shot for HHS in the opening frame was a three-point play by Bell at the 5:05 mark of the quarter.
Rhodes put the Lady Indians ahead 16-13 to start the second, then with 6:02 left in the half, Kibler connected with a jumper.
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The game went in favor of both teams but was eventually tied at 22 off a 3-pointer from Molli Shaw of Washington, followed by two points from Warning to put the visitors ahead by two points with 3:15 left in the quarter. Kibler cut the lead to one point to end the second quarter with free throws.
The largest lead of the night was built in the third frame when Paige McRoberts and Warning combined for five straight points for a 31-27 advantage with 5:36 left in the quarter.
Rhodes followed with four straight points for HHS, and later Bell and Kibler combined with four consecutive points to put HHS ahead 33-32 with 3:32 on the clock.
As the third quarter ticked away, WCH scored the final four points of the frame for a three-point advantage headed into the final quarter.
The final eight minutes of play, the two teams mirrored each other in scoring with each team scoring the same amount, but it was HHS who had the final push, but just not enough as Rhodes scored two points, cutting the WCH lead to 54-52 with 3.2 left in regulation.
Following a missed free throw by Washington, a last-chance prayer shot from half court failed to fall through the hoop.
Coach Moberly spoke about how HHS needs to correct their mistakes.
"We have to be more consistent," he said. "We can't afford a possession off, and even though we've had better decision making, we still need to continue to improve on that.
"We allowed a couple put backs and points in transition … take those away, say 10 points, and we win this game. Everything has got to get better, and the mistakes have to be cut back even more."
In JV play, Washington defeated HHS, 31-21. Leading WCH was Bailey Jenkins with 11 points, and leading HHS was Faith Middleton with 10.
Neither team trailed by more than six points the entire game, and for Washington, they made the shots in transition and the put-back buckets, which in turn was something the Lady Indians are still working on to improve as their season continues.
HHS falls to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the SCOL. Washington moves to 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the league.
"We had a couple lapses in each half," Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly said. "We would turn the ball over, rushed our passes and didn't execute when we needed to.
"I will say this … our girls didn't quit, and we had an opportunity to win this game. I saw us do a lot of things a lot better."
The game was close for the entire time on the scoreboard with HHS leading 14-13 at the conclusion of the opening frame, followed by the Lady Blue Lions leading 24-23 at the half. After three quarters, Washington still held on to a three-point advantage at 38-35.
To explain how even the game was, each team scored 17 points apiece in the fourth quarter.
Washington was led by Chelsea Warning with 14 points, followed by Carleigh Chaffins at 11 points.
HHS had the high scorers for the game with Kaylynn Bell totaling 18 points and Trista Rhodes with 15. Hannah Kibler finished with 11.
"Washington had a couple kids step up and put the game on their shoulders, so I have to credit them," Moberly said. "Our kids are tired (three games in six days), and we've played a lot in a short amount of time."
HHS will play three more games in the next eight days, including a game Saturday night at London.
The opening quarter on Wednesday for the Lady Indians saw them take the lead with 3:55 left on the clock with a put-back bucket by Madison Snyder, then increase their lead to three with 3:17 remaining off a jumper from Kibler. Another big shot for HHS in the opening frame was a three-point play by Bell at the 5:05 mark of the quarter.
Rhodes put the Lady Indians ahead 16-13 to start the second, then with 6:02 left in the half, Kibler connected with a jumper.
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The game went in favor of both teams but was eventually tied at 22 off a 3-pointer from Molli Shaw of Washington, followed by two points from Warning to put the visitors ahead by two points with 3:15 left in the quarter. Kibler cut the lead to one point to end the second quarter with free throws.
The largest lead of the night was built in the third frame when Paige McRoberts and Warning combined for five straight points for a 31-27 advantage with 5:36 left in the quarter.
Rhodes followed with four straight points for HHS, and later Bell and Kibler combined with four consecutive points to put HHS ahead 33-32 with 3:32 on the clock.
As the third quarter ticked away, WCH scored the final four points of the frame for a three-point advantage headed into the final quarter.
The final eight minutes of play, the two teams mirrored each other in scoring with each team scoring the same amount, but it was HHS who had the final push, but just not enough as Rhodes scored two points, cutting the WCH lead to 54-52 with 3.2 left in regulation.
Following a missed free throw by Washington, a last-chance prayer shot from half court failed to fall through the hoop.
Coach Moberly spoke about how HHS needs to correct their mistakes.
"We have to be more consistent," he said. "We can't afford a possession off, and even though we've had better decision making, we still need to continue to improve on that.
"We allowed a couple put backs and points in transition … take those away, say 10 points, and we win this game. Everything has got to get better, and the mistakes have to be cut back even more."
In JV play, Washington defeated HHS, 31-21. Leading WCH was Bailey Jenkins with 11 points, and leading HHS was Faith Middleton with 10.