Lady Indians battle-tested by Washington in FAC win

Maybe the Hillsboro Lady Indians didn’t play their best game of the season thus far on Saturday afternoon, but it was still mission accomplished for the home team in Frontier Athletic Conference play. 

HHS trailed after one quarter of action, but they rallied to lead the next three as they defeated the Washington Lady Blue Lions, 51-26. 

The win was Hillsboro’s fourth consecutive win of the season, moving them to 2-0 in the FAC and 4-1 overall, and it also marked the fifth consecutive game of the season where sophomore Tylee Davis recorded a double-double. 

As for how the game began, it can be summed up to the Lady Indians not having their best quarter of play. They began with a 5-0 lead, only to see the Lady Blue Lions score the next seven points for a 7-5 Washington lead with 1:11 left in the frame. 

Washington moved up to a 9-5 lead, but a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Davis made the score 9-8 to end the first frame with Washington in front. Davis finished with 13 points for HHS. 

Hillsboro led 16-11 at halftime as both teams had to battle to score points, but HHS started the frame with a basket by Ella Jordan, followed by a put-back bucket by Annia Young and two free throws made by Peighton Bledsoe with 5:30 on the clock for a 14-9 Lady Indian lead. Jordan totaled 10 points for the game, while Young finished with two points and Bledsoe totaled 12 points as Bledsoe went 4-of-4 from the free-throw line for the game. 

After Washington scored their only basket of the quarter, Dinah Ames and Davis each made a free throw for HHS in the final minutes of the quarter for a five-point Hillsboro lead at halftime. 

Hillsboro outscored Washington 13-8 in the third, starting with Jordan sinking a 3-pointer 23 seconds into the frame, followed by consecutive baskets by Davis, a layup from Bledsoe and two points by Kobie Miles for an 11-0 run, extending their lead to 16 points at 27-11. Miles finished the game with eight points. 

Washington scored the next four points, but Hillsboro responded with two free throws by Kayla Seeling. The final points of the frame were scored by the visitors, leaving HHS ahead by 10 points at 29-19. 

After a chat with head coach Heather Storer in-between the third and fourth frames, the Lady Indians were back in business, outscoring the Washington team 21-7 in the final eight minutes to take control of the game. 

“We gave some really nice motivation at halftime and told them to come out and let's get it done and play the way we like to play. We have to play hard defensively to help create offense, especially when our shots are not falling. I don't know what we shot in the first half, but I know it wasn't good, and when our shots aren't falling, we put our heads down tonight, and that's not OK,” HHS head coach Heather Storer said. “We kind of picked them back up at halftime, told them, let's go get it done. Play hard on defense, shots are going to go in, everything's going to be fine, but we've got to pick it up on the defensive side. We've got to start seeing some layups go in. We've got to be aggressive, and things are going to happen. And I think that's exactly what they came out and did. I don't know what we went on the quick run in the third quarter to start to make them call the timeout, but I think that was the ‘come out and get it done.’”

It was Bledsoe who started things off for HHS with a basket to begin the fourth quarter, and following two points by WCH, Miles scored a basket following a rebound for a 33-21 advantage. 

After the two teams exchanged a couple baskets, the Lady Indians finished the fourth quarter on a 15-0 run for their 25-point victory. 

That final run included two free throws and a layup from Miles, two baskets by Jordan, two baskets from Davis and a 3-pointer by Ames. 

“We work more on the defensive side than we do the offensive side, and some nights that might hurt us, especially when we're not shooting,” Storer said. “Well, maybe people think we should spend a little more time on shots, but I'm a defensive-minded person, and I think defense is what it takes to win games, and that's what we're going to spend our time working on. 

“That's what we went back to in the second half was focusing on the defensive side. Let's get deflections. Let's be aggressive, and the shots are going to come. I think we did a nice job.”

The loss drops Washington to 0-2 in the FAC. Washington was led in scoring by Eliana Racine with eight points. 

Next for HHS is a FAC game on Wednesday, Dec. 11 at Jackson. 

In JV action, Hillsboro defeated Washington, 35-12. HHS was led in scoring by Piper Wilkin with 10 points, followed by Chanel Captain, Taylor-Ann Scruggs and Annia Young each with five points. Peyton Gobin totaled three points, and scoring two points each were Riley Pence, Aubrey Burton and Kiara Boris. Scoring one point was Josie Rhoads. 

BOX SCORE
WCH    09 02 08 07 — 26
HHS    08 08 13 22 — 51

HILLSBORO (51) — P.Bledsoe 4 (0) 4-4 12, K.Miles 3 (0) 2-2 8, E.Jordan 2 (1) 0-2 10, T.Davis 4 (1) 2-4 13, D.Ames 1 (1) 1-2 6, A.Young 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 15 (3) 9-14 51. 

WASHINGTON (26) — Brown 2 (0) 0-2 4, Miller 2 (0) 0-0 4, Racine 4 (0) 0-0 8, Hughes 1 (0) 3-4 5, Wall 1 (1) 0-0 5. TOTALS: 10 (1) 3-6 26.

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