Indians fight back, win in OT over Wildcats
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Hillsboro junior Chase Gilliland proved to have ice water running though his veins Thursday at Hillsboro High School, with the game in his hands. With Hillsboro needing two points to send the game into overtime, the junior released the ball with 3.8 seconds left on the clock and tied the game at the buzzer, nothing but net, with the Indians eventually winning the game in overtime, 68-62.
After mounting a double-digit comeback, HHS was within one point of the lead when Eli Hogsett sank one free throw with 38.3 left in regulation. WHS made just one of their next three free-throw attempts, taking a two-point advantage with 22.9 seconds left.
The Indians, who are winners of six straight games, lost possession of the basketball with 10.6 left in the fourth, but the Wildcat struggles from the free-throw line continued to haunt them, missing two more that would have made it a two possession game. For the game, WHS was 5-of-16 from the foul line.
"At the beginning it (free-throw shooting) was a real plus, but we need to revisit that and will look at that next week," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said.
With Gilliland's jumper putting the game into OT, tied at 58, HHS went on the 10-4 run to give the SCOL a three-game sweep in the SCOL-SHL Challenge.
"We had some poor shot selection in the fourth quarter, along with overtime, and we had possessions where we didn't take care of the basketball," Wessner said. "We came out of the matchup zone, which was something we hadn't shown yet, so I think they were surprised. They (HHS) made adjustments to it, which we thought they would. Coach Davis does a great job.
"We tried to weather the storm, which I thought we did. I thought we could play like the last couple games have played out, but it just didn't quite go that way."
The OT period began with Hillsboro's Devante Ames, who tallied 21 points, going the distance after stealing the ball, for two points with 3:24 left in OT.
After a timeout, Gilliland intercepted a WHS pass, taking the ball for two points in transition for a 62-58 lead with 2:06 remaining. Gilliland finished with 10 points.
Ames added one point from the free-throw line, followed with Gilliland putting the Tribe up by five points with two points from the free-throw line, sealing the win as HHS outscored WHS 3-2 in the final 13.3 seconds of OT.
"We went into a 2-3 zone (in the second half), they missed a couple shots from outside. We did a good job of boxing out in the zone, and that got us going offensively, it started our transition.
"The big difference from (Wednesday) and (Thursday) than our other wins was our transition game. It is hard to have transition when you are getting the ball out of the net every time. So we went zone, they shot the ball from the outside, we were able to get some rebounds, and that got us into transition. That got us rolling offensively."
Though the game had an atmosphere that would equal any sports rivalry in Highland County, it was the Wildcats who impressed in the first quarter, taking a 13-10 lead once the first eight minutes ticked off the scoreboard.
Joe Michael, who led all scorers with a game-high 24 points, scored eight of the 13 Whiteoak points to open the first quarter. For HHS, the scoring was balanced, with five players scoring two points each.
In the second, HHS continued to not reach their usual scoring heights, with the Wildcats holding them to 10 points in the second frame. WHS finished the first half, leading 30-20.
Though Ames opened the second with a 3-pointer, tying the game at 13, Doc Seip came back with a put-back bucket 12 seconds later for the WHS lead at 15-13. Seip finished with 20 points.
Hogsett tied the game at 15, then WHS took control with a 10-2 run for a 25-17 lead with 2:42 left in the quarter. The two HHS points in the run were from an off-balanced shot by Dow Kiefer.
In the second quarter, Seip scored eight points.
Then the Indians broke through in the third quarter, scoring 28 points. Ames came through with 13 points in the quarter, including an off-balanced, falling 3-pointer with 2:42 left in the third, bringing the Indians within one point of tying the game. Tyrand Cumberland scored four consecutive points to put HHS up 43-40, as HHS trailed 38-29 with under five minutes left in the third.
Gage Carraher made a 3-pointer, tying the game at 43 with 1:07 remaining, but was answered by Aric Carroll's 3-point basket with 34 seconds left in the same quarter.
In the parts of the fourth quarter leading up to Gilliland's game-tying jumper, Mike Carraher opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, followed with a layup by Seip, tying the game at 48.
Cumberland and Seip exchanged baskets, but Cumberland converted a three-point play, ending with HHS up by one point.
WHS led 57-52 after baskets by Michael and Seip, which turned into a 7-1 run.
"Doc Seip and Joe Michael hurt us real bad inside," Davis said. "Both those guys wanted the ball inside. They caught it and did a good job of scoring. Whiteoak has played us tough the past couple years. We knew coming in they were going to play in the zone and 2-2-1, and we never got going offensively until the (second half)."
Gilliland sank a 3-pointer with 1:58 left in regulation, making the score 57-55, cutting the WHS lead down to two points.
"Right now we've been focusing on effort and execution, and (Thursday) I thought we did fairly well. We brought in one more characteristic and that is discipline, and that is something we've been lacking. If we can get all three together, we can be a hard team to beat."
Davis talked about playing with passion, with HHS having two tough wins on back-to-back nights. On Wednesday, HHS had a four-point win over McClain.
"At halftime, we talked about our heart and getting back in it, and playing with passion," he said. "When our kids play with passion, good things happen, that is the difference. We played with the refuse-to-lose mentality in the second half that we didn't play with in the first half. That says a lot about the character of our team, so I'm very impressed."
HHS improves to 6-2 overall, while WHS stands at 4-2.
WHS will face Paint Valley at LCHS in the Wilkin Scholarship Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 29. HHS will play again on Jan. 7 when they host Clinton-Massie in a SCOL game.[[In-content Ad]]
After mounting a double-digit comeback, HHS was within one point of the lead when Eli Hogsett sank one free throw with 38.3 left in regulation. WHS made just one of their next three free-throw attempts, taking a two-point advantage with 22.9 seconds left.
The Indians, who are winners of six straight games, lost possession of the basketball with 10.6 left in the fourth, but the Wildcat struggles from the free-throw line continued to haunt them, missing two more that would have made it a two possession game. For the game, WHS was 5-of-16 from the foul line.
"At the beginning it (free-throw shooting) was a real plus, but we need to revisit that and will look at that next week," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said.
With Gilliland's jumper putting the game into OT, tied at 58, HHS went on the 10-4 run to give the SCOL a three-game sweep in the SCOL-SHL Challenge.
"We had some poor shot selection in the fourth quarter, along with overtime, and we had possessions where we didn't take care of the basketball," Wessner said. "We came out of the matchup zone, which was something we hadn't shown yet, so I think they were surprised. They (HHS) made adjustments to it, which we thought they would. Coach Davis does a great job.
"We tried to weather the storm, which I thought we did. I thought we could play like the last couple games have played out, but it just didn't quite go that way."
The OT period began with Hillsboro's Devante Ames, who tallied 21 points, going the distance after stealing the ball, for two points with 3:24 left in OT.
After a timeout, Gilliland intercepted a WHS pass, taking the ball for two points in transition for a 62-58 lead with 2:06 remaining. Gilliland finished with 10 points.
Ames added one point from the free-throw line, followed with Gilliland putting the Tribe up by five points with two points from the free-throw line, sealing the win as HHS outscored WHS 3-2 in the final 13.3 seconds of OT.
"We went into a 2-3 zone (in the second half), they missed a couple shots from outside. We did a good job of boxing out in the zone, and that got us going offensively, it started our transition.
"The big difference from (Wednesday) and (Thursday) than our other wins was our transition game. It is hard to have transition when you are getting the ball out of the net every time. So we went zone, they shot the ball from the outside, we were able to get some rebounds, and that got us into transition. That got us rolling offensively."
Though the game had an atmosphere that would equal any sports rivalry in Highland County, it was the Wildcats who impressed in the first quarter, taking a 13-10 lead once the first eight minutes ticked off the scoreboard.
Joe Michael, who led all scorers with a game-high 24 points, scored eight of the 13 Whiteoak points to open the first quarter. For HHS, the scoring was balanced, with five players scoring two points each.
In the second, HHS continued to not reach their usual scoring heights, with the Wildcats holding them to 10 points in the second frame. WHS finished the first half, leading 30-20.
Though Ames opened the second with a 3-pointer, tying the game at 13, Doc Seip came back with a put-back bucket 12 seconds later for the WHS lead at 15-13. Seip finished with 20 points.
Hogsett tied the game at 15, then WHS took control with a 10-2 run for a 25-17 lead with 2:42 left in the quarter. The two HHS points in the run were from an off-balanced shot by Dow Kiefer.
In the second quarter, Seip scored eight points.
Then the Indians broke through in the third quarter, scoring 28 points. Ames came through with 13 points in the quarter, including an off-balanced, falling 3-pointer with 2:42 left in the third, bringing the Indians within one point of tying the game. Tyrand Cumberland scored four consecutive points to put HHS up 43-40, as HHS trailed 38-29 with under five minutes left in the third.
Gage Carraher made a 3-pointer, tying the game at 43 with 1:07 remaining, but was answered by Aric Carroll's 3-point basket with 34 seconds left in the same quarter.
In the parts of the fourth quarter leading up to Gilliland's game-tying jumper, Mike Carraher opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, followed with a layup by Seip, tying the game at 48.
Cumberland and Seip exchanged baskets, but Cumberland converted a three-point play, ending with HHS up by one point.
WHS led 57-52 after baskets by Michael and Seip, which turned into a 7-1 run.
"Doc Seip and Joe Michael hurt us real bad inside," Davis said. "Both those guys wanted the ball inside. They caught it and did a good job of scoring. Whiteoak has played us tough the past couple years. We knew coming in they were going to play in the zone and 2-2-1, and we never got going offensively until the (second half)."
Gilliland sank a 3-pointer with 1:58 left in regulation, making the score 57-55, cutting the WHS lead down to two points.
"Right now we've been focusing on effort and execution, and (Thursday) I thought we did fairly well. We brought in one more characteristic and that is discipline, and that is something we've been lacking. If we can get all three together, we can be a hard team to beat."
Davis talked about playing with passion, with HHS having two tough wins on back-to-back nights. On Wednesday, HHS had a four-point win over McClain.
"At halftime, we talked about our heart and getting back in it, and playing with passion," he said. "When our kids play with passion, good things happen, that is the difference. We played with the refuse-to-lose mentality in the second half that we didn't play with in the first half. That says a lot about the character of our team, so I'm very impressed."
HHS improves to 6-2 overall, while WHS stands at 4-2.
WHS will face Paint Valley at LCHS in the Wilkin Scholarship Tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 29. HHS will play again on Jan. 7 when they host Clinton-Massie in a SCOL game.[[In-content Ad]]