Cavaliers’ dominant second half leads to Indians’ FAC loss

HILLSBORO — The height, speed and overall athleticism of the Chillicothe Cavaliers were too much for the host Hillsboro Indians to overcome Tuesday evening in the second Frontier Athletic Conference game of the 2025-26 season. 

Chillicothe used their height to have multiple blocks, had three dunks and forced turnovers they turned into points for what eventually ended up as a 20-point victory over the Indians, 56-36. 

The FAC game started with the Cavaliers (2-0, 4-0) scoring the first five points of the game, including a two-handed dunk by 6-7 junior Noah Netter and a 3-pointer from junior Karter Williams for the 5-0 lead. Williams and Netter each ended the game with 10 points. Netter added eight rebounds, one assist and two blocks. Williams also collected four rebounds, five assists, one steal and two blocks. 

Early on, the Indians responded by tying the score at 5-5 with a 3-pointer from junior Brady Juillerat and a drive to the hoop for two points from junior Jack Howland with 3:49 on the clock. Howland led the Indians with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Juillerat totaled six points, four rebounds and one steal.  

The Cavaliers responded with a 10-0 run starting with 3:27 on the clock with a 3-pointer by junior Ka’Von Pleasant, a jumper by junior Andrew Hamman, a dunk from junior Cayden Cox and a three-point play by Williams for a 15-5 Cavs lead with 42.5 left in the opening quarter. Hamman led the Cavaliers with 15 points, and he added five rebounds, one block and two steals.

Cox totaled six points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals. Pleasant finished with three points, one rebound and two blocks.

HHS had senior Jeven Hochstuhl end the first-quarter scoring with a put-back bucket for a 15-7 score. Hochstuhl finished the game with nine points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. 

The second frame saw the Indians trail by 11 points twice early on, including with 5:34 on the clock. Then the Indians had their best scoring run of the game, with a 9-0 run from the 5:05 mark to the 3:17 mark of the quarter. 
    
Hillsboro started their scoring run with a basket by Hochstuhl with the fastbreak assist from Howland, followed by a put-back bucket from sophomore Dawson Barnett and a 3-pointer by Hochstuhl. Barnett also added two rebounds and one assist. 

Howland made it nine straight points when he connected with a layup with 3:17 left in the first half for a 20-18 score, bringing Hillsboro within two points of the Cavaliers. 

CHS ended the frame leading by six points at 27-21 as they outscored HHS 7-3 with the Indians having a basket from senior Mason Dumpert (who finished with four points) and a free throw made by Howland. 

The six-point deficit for the Indians at halftime increased to a 19-point deficit by the time the third quarter came to an end. 

Chillicothe opened the third frame with a layup by Netter, followed by a steal and basket from Cox. Howland brought the Indians back to within eight points with a basket for a 31-23 score with 5:05 left in the third frame, but that was as close as the Indians would get for the remainder of the game. 

Chillicothe in the final 4:43 of the third frame outscored the host Hillsboro squad 14-3 for a 19-point lead and a score of 45-26. That run of scoring included a third dunk of the game by CHS, this one an alley-oop by Netter, with the perfectly paced toss and assist from Cox. 

CHS won the fourth quarter at 11-10 with the Indians having points scored by senior Zack Brown, Dumpert, Howland and Hochstuhl. Brown also collected two rebounds. 

The Cavs’ fourth-quarter scoring was from Netter, Hamman, senior Cooper Stoneking, Williams and Jett McAllister. Stoneking ended the game with seven points (three rebounds, two assists, one block), and McAllister finished with five points.

The Cavs’ totals were 21 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers, and they were 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. They also had just three turnovers to go with 26 rebounds (six offensive), 13 assists, six steals and eight blocks. 

Hillsboro’s final team totals included 10 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and they were 4-of-7 from the free-throw line. HHS had 13 turnovers in the loss, along with 23 rebounds (nine offensive), eight assists and four steals. 

HHS also had two rebounds from JaHari Pitts, and Easton Inman had two rebounds and one assist. 

In the JV game, the Indians won 65-56 with Easton Inman leading HHS with 28 points. HHS also had the following scoring: Weston Kibler (11), Gage Greer (11), Brayden Cummings (6), Zach Smith (4), Ryker Snyder (4) and Hunter Seeling (1). 

The freshman game saw the Indians fall by a 28-5 score in two quarters. Brayden Cummings scored three points for HHS, and Hunter Seeling totaled two points. 

Next for Hillsboro (0-2, 0-5) is another FAC game at home on Friday, Dec. 19 against the Washington Blue Lions (1-1, 3-3).

Chillicothe (2-0, 4-0) is scheduled to play again on Friday, Dec. 19 at home against the Miami Trace Panthers (1-0, 3-0). 

BOX SCORE 
CHS    15 12 18 11 — 56
HHS    07 14 05 10 — 36

CHILLICOTHE (56) — K.Pleasant 0 (1) 0-0 3, C.Cox 3 (0) 0-0 6, A.Hamman 6 (0) 3-3 15, K.Williams 3 (1) 1-3 10, C.Stoneking 2 (1) 0-0 7, J.McAllister 2 (0) 1-1 5, N.Netter 5 (0) 0-0 10. TOTALS: 21 (3) 5-7 56. 

HILLSBORO (36) — B.Juillerat 0 (2) 0-0 6, M.Dumpert 2 (0) 0-0 4, D.Barnett 1 (0) 0-1 2, J.Hochstuhl 3 (1) 0-0 9, J.Howland 4 (1) 3-4 14, Z.Brown 0 (0) 1-2 1. TOTALS: 10 (4) 4-7 36.