Lady Indians return to court with convincing win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — Following a two-week holiday break, the Hillsboro Lady Indians from the final minute of the opening quarter to the final buzzer didn't look like they had a bit of rust, but looked well rested as they defeated the Waverly Tigers, 64-44 Thursday night at Hillsboro High School.
Hillsboro (1-4, 3-7) started all three seniors in their first game since Dec. 20, as the game was a balanced team win. This is the third time this season HHS left the court with a victory, their second time at home this season.
The opening portion of the game was close as there were a couple tied scores and lead changes, but from the 59.4 mark of the first, the game undoubtedly belonged to the host Lady Indians as Trista Rhodes tied the score at 12, Taylor Moberly hit a timely 3-pointer from the far corner of the three-point line and Madison Snyder scored off an inbounds pass from Taylor Stanforth to put HHS ahead, 17-12.
"We started off a bit sluggish, but as we continued to play, the kids responded well, but that was something I was worried about before the game with the two-week break," Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly said. "We did a lot of nice things well, but we had our share of letdowns we need to fix."
Snyder and Bell each tallied double-doubles. Bell led with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Snyder scored 19 points and 10 rebounds. Also in double figures was Rhodes with 12 points.
"Madison had a big game for us in the post," Moberly said. "She made her presence felt in the post, and that's something we've been looking for.
"Kaylynn and Trista also came up big with points."
Leading the visiting Lady Tigers was Bri Wiget with 11 points, all coming in the first half. Of her 11 points, nine of them came off three 3-pointers, with two in the second quarter.
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"We challenged the girls to defend Wiget, and in the first half, she scored 11 points on us as she's a good player," Moberly said. "We held her to four shots in the second half, and the defense of Kaylynn, Taylor and Trista was huge."
The game stayed relatively close in the second quarter, but HHS did lead 22-13 with 5:05 on the clock as Bell converted a three-point play and Faith Middleton scored with the assist by Moberly, who stole the ball and found Middleton by the hoop.
With 3:21 left in the first, Bell put HHS ahead 26-15 as she scored four consecutive points. HHS later went on a 6-0 run by Snyder and Rhodes for a 34-20 advantage. The 6-0 run was sandwiched in between 3-pointers by Wiget, making it a 10-point game as HHS led 33-23 with 1:29 left in the second, and HHS ended the frame with an 11-point advantage of 35-24.
After a pretty competitive first half, the third quarter happened, which was an eight-minute span of basketball that showed the potential the Lady Indians have this season as they outscored their non-league visitor 21-8 for a lead of 56-32.
At one point in the third, Bell, Snyder and Rhodes combined for a run of 10 straight points and a lead of 47-26 with the clock reading 3:24 left in the frame.
From there, HHS had third-quarter points by Snyder, Bell, Bowen and Stratton, with Stratton's two points coming with an assist by Stanforth as the senior duo put their team ahead 26 points with 20 seconds left in the quarter. Stanforth led HHS with four assists.
HHS scored eight points in the fourth from Middleton, Snyder and Bell.
"(Thursday's) performance was above and beyond what we expected coming off all the rest we had," Moberly said. "The rest was good and bad for us as we didn't practice a lot, and when the break came, we were playing our best basketball.
"The rest was good because we had time to heal and players who were sick had time to recover. I'm real pleased with the effort and outcome of this game."
Besides Wiget, leading Waverly in scoring were Adrianna Conley with nine points, Lauren Streitenberger with seven and Kelsie Mays with six.
HHS was 9-of-18 from the free-throw line and WHS was 3-of-8.
The Lady Indians will play again on Saturday, Jan. 5 at Miami Trace.
Hillsboro (1-4, 3-7) started all three seniors in their first game since Dec. 20, as the game was a balanced team win. This is the third time this season HHS left the court with a victory, their second time at home this season.
The opening portion of the game was close as there were a couple tied scores and lead changes, but from the 59.4 mark of the first, the game undoubtedly belonged to the host Lady Indians as Trista Rhodes tied the score at 12, Taylor Moberly hit a timely 3-pointer from the far corner of the three-point line and Madison Snyder scored off an inbounds pass from Taylor Stanforth to put HHS ahead, 17-12.
"We started off a bit sluggish, but as we continued to play, the kids responded well, but that was something I was worried about before the game with the two-week break," Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly said. "We did a lot of nice things well, but we had our share of letdowns we need to fix."
Snyder and Bell each tallied double-doubles. Bell led with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Snyder scored 19 points and 10 rebounds. Also in double figures was Rhodes with 12 points.
"Madison had a big game for us in the post," Moberly said. "She made her presence felt in the post, and that's something we've been looking for.
"Kaylynn and Trista also came up big with points."
Leading the visiting Lady Tigers was Bri Wiget with 11 points, all coming in the first half. Of her 11 points, nine of them came off three 3-pointers, with two in the second quarter.
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"We challenged the girls to defend Wiget, and in the first half, she scored 11 points on us as she's a good player," Moberly said. "We held her to four shots in the second half, and the defense of Kaylynn, Taylor and Trista was huge."
The game stayed relatively close in the second quarter, but HHS did lead 22-13 with 5:05 on the clock as Bell converted a three-point play and Faith Middleton scored with the assist by Moberly, who stole the ball and found Middleton by the hoop.
With 3:21 left in the first, Bell put HHS ahead 26-15 as she scored four consecutive points. HHS later went on a 6-0 run by Snyder and Rhodes for a 34-20 advantage. The 6-0 run was sandwiched in between 3-pointers by Wiget, making it a 10-point game as HHS led 33-23 with 1:29 left in the second, and HHS ended the frame with an 11-point advantage of 35-24.
After a pretty competitive first half, the third quarter happened, which was an eight-minute span of basketball that showed the potential the Lady Indians have this season as they outscored their non-league visitor 21-8 for a lead of 56-32.
At one point in the third, Bell, Snyder and Rhodes combined for a run of 10 straight points and a lead of 47-26 with the clock reading 3:24 left in the frame.
From there, HHS had third-quarter points by Snyder, Bell, Bowen and Stratton, with Stratton's two points coming with an assist by Stanforth as the senior duo put their team ahead 26 points with 20 seconds left in the quarter. Stanforth led HHS with four assists.
HHS scored eight points in the fourth from Middleton, Snyder and Bell.
"(Thursday's) performance was above and beyond what we expected coming off all the rest we had," Moberly said. "The rest was good and bad for us as we didn't practice a lot, and when the break came, we were playing our best basketball.
"The rest was good because we had time to heal and players who were sick had time to recover. I'm real pleased with the effort and outcome of this game."
Besides Wiget, leading Waverly in scoring were Adrianna Conley with nine points, Lauren Streitenberger with seven and Kelsie Mays with six.
HHS was 9-of-18 from the free-throw line and WHS was 3-of-8.
The Lady Indians will play again on Saturday, Jan. 5 at Miami Trace.