Hillsboro nets 21-point win over Chillicothe

Scoring 23 points in the first quarter and holding on to a double-figure lead for most of the game, the Hillsboro Lady Indians defeated the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers 69-48 on Wednesday evening, as play in the Frontier Athletic Conference took place for the first time this season. 

Hillsboro’s win was their third consecutive victory, as they improved to 3-1 overall, with wins also against Goshen and Portsmouth West this season. 

Hillsboro wasted little to no time Wednesday getting on the scoreboard and taking control of the game, though the first quarter saw the two FAC teams combine for 23 free throws as there were 40-plus fouls called in the game. 

“The motto of our team is we're gritty and we're going to grind all the way down through our bench. I think we had nine kids in the game tonight, so all the way down through the roster, the kids are going to work hard,” HHS head coach Heather Storer said. “The second and third quarters weren’t great for us. We were in foul trouble. We had to play some different kids that we wouldn't typically play as many minutes as what they played, but those kids were able to come in and get us through the foul trouble. Our first and fourth quarter is what put us over the edge.”

HHS (3-1, 1-0) began the game with the first points scored off a 3-pointer by freshman Ella Jordan nearly one minute into the game. Next were two free throws made by sophomore Tylee Davis, followed by a steal and basket by senior Peighton Bledsoe for a 7-0 lead with 6:22 still remaining in the opening quarter. 

CHS came back with two free throws, but the Lady Indians were just warming up as they had a 3-pointer by junior Kobie Miles, plus a steal and basket by Davis. Miles led Hillsboro with 21 points (along with one rebound, three assists, and two steals), while Davis scored 20 points in the win, collecting a double-double with 13 rebounds, plus she added three steals and one assist.

After a technical foul was called on the Lady Cavs, Miles made two free throws, which were followed by a 3-pointer and steal and bucket from Bledsoe for a 19-2 Hillsboro lead with 4:22 left in the first frame. Bledsoe totaled 15 points in the win for HHS and added four assists and five steals. 

Chillicothe called a timeout with 4:14 and eventually added a basket — their first field goal of the game — with 3:37 remaining in the first quarter, but HHS took back their 17-point lead off two made free throws by Miles with 2:38 on the clock. 

Then a barrage of free throws happened in the final two minutes of the first frame — as there were 19 free throws attempted in that span — with CHS cutting the Hillsboro lead to 11 points, only to see HHS score points off free throws of their own with 1.9 left in the quarter as Bledsoe made the score 23-10 when the frame came to a conclusion. 

“Our kids get hyped for threes. We've got several kids that shoot a really high three-point percentage, especially in practice. We've been working really hard this week on getting shots off quicker and different advantages that they can have on shots when they're getting quickly contested,” Storer said. “I saw several of the girls with nice moves to the basket that we had literally worked on yesterday in practice. It's always good to see things translate into the game that you know you've worked hard on in practice.”

HHS held a 13-point lead entering the second quarter and ended it with an 11-point advantage, as CHS outscored Hillsboro 14-12 for a halftime score of 35-24 in favor of the host Lady Indians. 

The second frame included points scored by Jordan, Miles and Bledsoe with Jordan — who totaled 13 points, two rebounds, one assist and seven steals — and Bledsoe each sinking 3-pointers as the two teams each had their battles with four troubles. 

HHS kept an 11-point lead when the third frame finished and only lost the double-figure lead once in the frame with 2:09 left on the clock following two free throws made by Chillicothe. Less than a minute later, HHS took back their 11-point lead with a bucket from Davis and increased the lead to 13 points off a steal and layup by Jordan, as HHS and the Lady Cavaliers each scored 11 points in the third frame. 

HHS had another 23-point quarter in the game, ending the game how it began with a second 23-point frame in the fourth quarter, while Chillicothe scored 13 points in the final quarter. 

Hillsboro opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from Davis, and following a bucket by CHS, Miles knocked down a 3-pointer with 6:21 on the clock for a 15-point HHS lead. 

Chillicothe scored the next five points, but that was answered with a 3-pointer from Miles and another 3-pointer from Davis with 2:55 left in the game for a 16-point Lady Indians lead. 

From there, the two teams exchanged points as Hillsboro had a basket by Jordan, and later two free throws were made by Miles and fast break points were scored by Bledsoe. Davis drove to the hoop for two points, and the final points of the game with 3.0 on the clock were free throws made by Davis for the 21-point win.

HHS finished the game with 12 two-point baskets, 10 3-pointers, and they were 13-of-22 from the free-throw line. Miles and Jordan each made three 3-pointers, while Bledsoe and Davis connected with two 3-pointers each. 

Also in the game for HHS, Dinah Ames totaled seven rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal. Annia Young collected a rebound, Piper Wilkin also collected a rebound and Kayla Seeling had one rebound and two assists. 

“The girls' grittiness and willingness to just get it done is great, and I'm super proud of how we're playing right now,” Storer said.

Chillicothe was led in the scoring column by Miranda McCloy with 14 points, followed by Mallorie McCloy with 10 points. CHS also had scoring from Savannah Wade (nine), Alexa Clark (six), Adaline Mendel (five), Campbell McCallister (two) and Natalie Dudley (two). As a team, Chillicothe finished 10-of-25 from the free-throw line and made two 3-pointers (Miranda McCloy and Mendel).

Chillicothe (0-1, 0-2) is scheduled to play again Saturday, Dec. 7 at home in FAC play against the Miami Trace Lady Panthers (1-0, 3-2) at 7 p.m. 

HHS (1-0, 3-1) is back on the court Saturday, Dec. 7 at home vs. the Washington Lady Blue Lions (0-1, 0-2) at 12:30 p.m. 

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HHS JV defeats CHS

In JV action on Wednesday, Hillsboro defeated Chillicothe 59-2. For HHS, leading in scoring was Peyton Gobin with 11 points, followed by Kiara Boris with 10 points and Riley Pence with 10 points.

JV scoring for HHS also included: Taylor-Ann Scruggs (eight), Chanel Captain (seven), Piper Wilkin (six), Aubrey Burton (three), Josie Rhoads (three) and Annia Young (one). 

BOX SCORE
CHS    10 14 11 13 — 48
HHS    23 12 11 23 — 69

HILLSBORO (69) — P.Bledsoe 4 (2) 1-4 15, K.Miles 2 (3) 8-10 21, E.Jordan 2 (3) 0-4 13, T.Davis 5 (2) 4-4 20. TOTALS: 13 (10) 13-22 69. 

CHILLICOTHE (48) — Mi.McCloy 5 (1) 1-6 14, A.Mendel 1 (1) 0-0 5, Ma.McCloy 2 (0) 6-10 10, S.Wade 4 (0) 1-5 9, C.McCallister 0 (0) 2-2 2, A.Clark 3 (0) 0-2 6, N.Dudley 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 16 (2) 10-25 48. 

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