Lady Indians drop final home game of season to MP
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Honoring their three seniors in a pregame ceremony Saturday afternoon, the Hillsboro Lady Indians were unable to overcome a slow first half. Though Hillsboro chipped away at the lead of the Madison-Plains Lady Golden Eagles, they couldn't get over the hump, falling 44-38.
The South Central Ohio League loss puts HHS at 1-9 in the league standings and 3-13 overall, with four games remaining on the regular-season slate. MP improved to 10-6 overall and 4-4 in the SCOL.
Before the game, the Lady Indians honored seniors Whitney Earley, Danielle Gillman and Carey Juillerat.
"These three ladies have been playing basketball together for a long time," HHS head coach JR Moberly said. "They fought some tough years in the program. I have a lot of respect for them, and they are such great kids.
"The girls work hard every day, and I'm very fortunate to have them in the program."
HHS made a game of it in the fourth as they rallied by starting the final eight minutes with six straight points with a basket by Trista Rhodes, followed with a layup by Kaylynn Bell and a jumper by Earley with 4:48 left in the quarter. The 6-0 run made it a four-point deficit at 34-30.
"We cut their lead down to four points, and we were playing like there was 30 seconds left," Moberly said. "Part of that is the reason we cut the lead down, but we tried to shift gears … and I don't think that went to our advantage."
The Lady Indians held MP to one field goal in the second half, but MP was 13-of-21 from the free-throw line in the final two quarters.
"We were sluggish at times, and we knew Hillsboro would be scrappy, especially with it being their senior day," MP head coach Tobi Briggs said. "They came out and played hard, and we knew we had to match their intensity. At time we got into a bit of a rush, and that caused too many turnovers.
"We rushed way too much in the second half, but we were able to grind it out, and I'm proud of the girls."
MP answered with four free throws in a span of 15 seconds, regaining their eight-point advantage.
Gillman didn't let the MP victory come easy in her final home game, connecting for two points in the paint, but MP answered from the free-throw line with three points in three trips to the line, increasing their lead to 41-32 with 1:12 left on the clock.
Following the free throws by MP, Coach Moberly replaced his three seniors on the court to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
With time still left on the clock, Rhodes and Bell helped bring the Lady Indians back within four points with 16 seconds left on the clock, as that was as close HHS could get.
The Lady Indians were led in scoring by Rhodes with 10 points, while Bell added six points.
As for the HHS seniors, Gillman scored eight points, Juillerat added six points and Earley scored two points.
For MP, they were led in scoring by Casey Knisley with a game-high 11 points. Hayley Faulkner finished with 10 points, and Abby Finney followed with seven points.
Besides being tied at 2-2, the first frame didn't go so well for the Lady Indians, as they finished the day 16-of-53 (30 percent) overall from the field. MP was 13-of-43 overall from the field (30 percent).
"We spent the whole day digging a hole, digging ourselves out. Then we dig another hole and have to dig ourselves out of that one," Moberly said. "We couldn't get it tied up, and if we could have tied it and had a possession to take the lead, maybe we could have turned the tide."
HHS trailed 15-7 after the first quarter with MP leading 9-2 with 3:28 left in the quarter with points by Knisley, Finney, Faulkner and Savanna Nelson, Knisley sank two 3-pointers in the quarter, including one with 1:28 left in the frame, putting HHS ahead 14-4.
MP outscored the Lady Indians 14-8 in the second frame as HHS made two baskets from the field in the quarter, including a 3-pointer by Taylor Moberly with 4:06 left on the clock, bringing HHS within six points at 19-13.
[[In-content Ad]]That 3-pointer was answered not once, but twice by MP with 3-pointers by Knisley and Finney, lifting the Lady Golden Eagles to a lead of 25-13. Abby Ames added two more points for a 6-0 run with 1:31 left in the first half.
The quarter ended with a jumper at the buzzer by Mckayla Wilson, putting MP ahead by 14 points after 16 minutes.
MP scored their lone field goal of the second half in the third when Faulkner scored on a steal and layup with .36 seconds left in the quarter.
HHS outscored MP in the second half 23-15, including quarters of 7-5 and 16-10.
"We missed too many easy shots we should have made in the second half, but we were able to make our free throws," Briggs said. "It was good to be able to step up to the foul line and knock those shots down.
"We'll take it … it's a win. We'll take it and go with it."
In the third for HHS, Gillman, Rhodes, Juillerat and Bell added points to the HHS side of the scoreboard.
The final four HHS regular-season games will be on the road as they will travel to Miami Trace (Feb. 1), East Clinton (Feb. 4), Goshen (Feb. 7) and SCOL-leading Clinton-Massie (Feb. 11).
In JV play, the Lady Indians won over MP by a score of 29-24. Mariah Burns led HHS with eight points.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MP 15 14 05 10 — 44
HHS 04 08 07 16 — 38
INDIVIDUAL STATS
MP (44)
Woodyard 1 (0) 3-7 5
Finney 1 (1) 2-2 7
Ames 2 (0) 2-4 6
Wilson 1 (0) 0-0 2
Knisley 1 (1) 6-8 11
Nelson 1 (0) 1-2 3
Faulkner 2 (2) 0-0 10
TOTALS: 9 (4) 14-23 44
HHS (38)
T.Moberly 0 (1) 1-4 4
D.Gillman 4 (0) 0-1 8
T.Rhodes 5 (0) 0-0 10
W.Earley 1 (0) 0-0 2
H.Kibler 1 (0) 0-0 2
C.Juillerat 1 (0) 4-6 6
K.Bell 3 (0) 0-0 6
TOTALS: 15 (1) 5-11 38
The South Central Ohio League loss puts HHS at 1-9 in the league standings and 3-13 overall, with four games remaining on the regular-season slate. MP improved to 10-6 overall and 4-4 in the SCOL.
Before the game, the Lady Indians honored seniors Whitney Earley, Danielle Gillman and Carey Juillerat.
"These three ladies have been playing basketball together for a long time," HHS head coach JR Moberly said. "They fought some tough years in the program. I have a lot of respect for them, and they are such great kids.
"The girls work hard every day, and I'm very fortunate to have them in the program."
HHS made a game of it in the fourth as they rallied by starting the final eight minutes with six straight points with a basket by Trista Rhodes, followed with a layup by Kaylynn Bell and a jumper by Earley with 4:48 left in the quarter. The 6-0 run made it a four-point deficit at 34-30.
"We cut their lead down to four points, and we were playing like there was 30 seconds left," Moberly said. "Part of that is the reason we cut the lead down, but we tried to shift gears … and I don't think that went to our advantage."
The Lady Indians held MP to one field goal in the second half, but MP was 13-of-21 from the free-throw line in the final two quarters.
"We were sluggish at times, and we knew Hillsboro would be scrappy, especially with it being their senior day," MP head coach Tobi Briggs said. "They came out and played hard, and we knew we had to match their intensity. At time we got into a bit of a rush, and that caused too many turnovers.
"We rushed way too much in the second half, but we were able to grind it out, and I'm proud of the girls."
MP answered with four free throws in a span of 15 seconds, regaining their eight-point advantage.
Gillman didn't let the MP victory come easy in her final home game, connecting for two points in the paint, but MP answered from the free-throw line with three points in three trips to the line, increasing their lead to 41-32 with 1:12 left on the clock.
Following the free throws by MP, Coach Moberly replaced his three seniors on the court to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
With time still left on the clock, Rhodes and Bell helped bring the Lady Indians back within four points with 16 seconds left on the clock, as that was as close HHS could get.
The Lady Indians were led in scoring by Rhodes with 10 points, while Bell added six points.
As for the HHS seniors, Gillman scored eight points, Juillerat added six points and Earley scored two points.
For MP, they were led in scoring by Casey Knisley with a game-high 11 points. Hayley Faulkner finished with 10 points, and Abby Finney followed with seven points.
Besides being tied at 2-2, the first frame didn't go so well for the Lady Indians, as they finished the day 16-of-53 (30 percent) overall from the field. MP was 13-of-43 overall from the field (30 percent).
"We spent the whole day digging a hole, digging ourselves out. Then we dig another hole and have to dig ourselves out of that one," Moberly said. "We couldn't get it tied up, and if we could have tied it and had a possession to take the lead, maybe we could have turned the tide."
HHS trailed 15-7 after the first quarter with MP leading 9-2 with 3:28 left in the quarter with points by Knisley, Finney, Faulkner and Savanna Nelson, Knisley sank two 3-pointers in the quarter, including one with 1:28 left in the frame, putting HHS ahead 14-4.
MP outscored the Lady Indians 14-8 in the second frame as HHS made two baskets from the field in the quarter, including a 3-pointer by Taylor Moberly with 4:06 left on the clock, bringing HHS within six points at 19-13.
[[In-content Ad]]That 3-pointer was answered not once, but twice by MP with 3-pointers by Knisley and Finney, lifting the Lady Golden Eagles to a lead of 25-13. Abby Ames added two more points for a 6-0 run with 1:31 left in the first half.
The quarter ended with a jumper at the buzzer by Mckayla Wilson, putting MP ahead by 14 points after 16 minutes.
MP scored their lone field goal of the second half in the third when Faulkner scored on a steal and layup with .36 seconds left in the quarter.
HHS outscored MP in the second half 23-15, including quarters of 7-5 and 16-10.
"We missed too many easy shots we should have made in the second half, but we were able to make our free throws," Briggs said. "It was good to be able to step up to the foul line and knock those shots down.
"We'll take it … it's a win. We'll take it and go with it."
In the third for HHS, Gillman, Rhodes, Juillerat and Bell added points to the HHS side of the scoreboard.
The final four HHS regular-season games will be on the road as they will travel to Miami Trace (Feb. 1), East Clinton (Feb. 4), Goshen (Feb. 7) and SCOL-leading Clinton-Massie (Feb. 11).
In JV play, the Lady Indians won over MP by a score of 29-24. Mariah Burns led HHS with eight points.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MP 15 14 05 10 — 44
HHS 04 08 07 16 — 38
INDIVIDUAL STATS
MP (44)
Woodyard 1 (0) 3-7 5
Finney 1 (1) 2-2 7
Ames 2 (0) 2-4 6
Wilson 1 (0) 0-0 2
Knisley 1 (1) 6-8 11
Nelson 1 (0) 1-2 3
Faulkner 2 (2) 0-0 10
TOTALS: 9 (4) 14-23 44
HHS (38)
T.Moberly 0 (1) 1-4 4
D.Gillman 4 (0) 0-1 8
T.Rhodes 5 (0) 0-0 10
W.Earley 1 (0) 0-0 2
H.Kibler 1 (0) 0-0 2
C.Juillerat 1 (0) 4-6 6
K.Bell 3 (0) 0-0 6
TOTALS: 15 (1) 5-11 38