Eastern leaves Hillsboro with 12-point win over Indians; Howland nets 30 points

HILLSBORO — Though the Hillsboro Indians led within the first three minutes of their non-conference game on Tuesday night against the Eastern Warriors, and they battled back to tie the score in the third frame, the visiting Warriors were able to seal the win in the fourth quarter, defeating the Indians 57-45. 

Tuesday’s (Dec. 23) loss by the Indians moved their overall record to 0-8 thus far this season, while Eastern improved to 5-0 overall. 

“Our guys battled, but I thought there were a few possessions that could have went a little bit harder,” HHS head coach Josh Howland said. “I thought we let 10 (Chase Pinkerton) for them who is a nice player, a nice move-in from Jackson, and 55 (Matthew Dick) we knew was going to be a big deal inside and he ended up with 17. 

“We did a good job at least somewhat controlling the offensive boards. They were averaging 13 offensive boards a game, and we held them to six. We got seven, and that's a step in the right direction. The effort is there, but the execution has to be a little bit better. I had us down for 12 turnovers, four in the second half. That turnover battle is a big difference … we had 12 total and they had eight.”

Eastern led 17-11 when the first-quarter buzzer sounded, but it wasn’t an easy task to complete in the first frame as Hillsboro led early on with a 3-pointer by Jack Howland less than 40 seconds into the game. 

After EHS tied the score, Brady Juillerat pushed the Indians into a three-point lead with a 3-pointer at the 6:23 mark, and after the Warriors made it a one-point differential, Hillsboro’s Mason Dumpert sank another 3-pointer for the Indians, giving the hosts a 9-7 lead with the scoreboard reading 4:56. 

Eastern answered with a six-point run from the 3:53 mark to the 2:01 mark, beginning with a finger-tip layup by Sam Ramer tying the score at 9-9. Then came four consecutive points off two baskets in the paint from Matthew Dick for a 13-9 Eastern lead. 

The Indians got to within two points of tying the score off two free throws made by Howland, but the Warriors ended the first with baskets by Ramer and Braxton Vance for a 17-11 advantage. 

Hillsboro trailed by six points at halftime at 26-20, but the Indians struck first in the second frame with a basket by Tre Captain. Eastern answered with five points scored by the duo of Ramer (a 3-pointer) and Chase Pinkerton, who made two free throws for a 22-13 lead with 6:17 on the second-quarter clock. 

HHS came back with a basket by Dumpert, and later in the quarter the Indians had a steal and layup by Jeven Hochstuhl for a 24-17 deficit. Eastern and Hillsboro exchanged baskets to end the second quarter as Pinkerton made a two-point bucket, and Juillerat drilled a 3-pointer with 1:05 on the clock, bringing the Indians to within six points of tying the score at 26-20. 

Eastern jumped out to a 10-point lead in the third, but the Indians eventually had baskets from Howland, as the HHS junior made a 3-pointer, a falling jumper, a basket in the paint and a then a three-point play after being fouled while sinking a jumper, tying the score at 31-31 with 3:35 left in the third. 

Eastern called a timeout with 3:25 left in the third, and then ended the third quarter with an 11-5 run for a 42-36 lead. Eastern in that scoring run had points scored by Dick, Ramer and Corbin Florence, as both Ramer and Florence made 3-pointers. The Indians’ final points of the third were all scored by Howland off a jumper, and then he was 3-of-3 from the free-throw line after being fouled while shooting a 3-pointer attempt as time expired in the third. 

The Indians entered the fourth quarter trailing by six points, and that deficit grew to 10 points after the Warriors opened the fourth frame with two baskets made by Pinkerton and Vance. 

Howland responded with two made free throws for HHS, then a 3-pointer at the 4:49 mark of the fourth for a 46-41 score with EHS in front. Hillsboro in the game scored four more points, all by Howland with a layup at the 1:45 mark, and later two made free throws with under 1:00 left in the game. 

Howland scored all 25 second-half goals for the Indians, including 16 points in the third and nine points in the fourth quarter. For the game, Howland finished with 30 points, making five two-point baskets, three 3-pointers and he was a perfect 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. 

“We know what we are going to get out of Jack, and we are trying to get guys better looks and get other guys more involved,” Coach Howland said. “Looking at the shot chart; we had them down for shooting two threes and had us down shooting 25 threes, and that’s the big difference in the game … shot selection by everybody. Part of it is when you are playing from behind you feel compelled to shoot the three, but all those weren’t from when we were behind. 

“We were 11-of-11 from the free-throw line, Jack shot all 11, and we need other guys getting to the basket. Overall we are shooting 76-percent from the line as a team, so we need to get to the line more.”

HHS also had the following final scoring totals: Juillerat (6), Dumpert (5), Hochstuhl (2) and Captain (2). The Indians finished with eight two-point baskets, six 3-pointers and were 11-of-11 from the free-throw line. 

“I’m optimistic, because they are good kids,” Howland said. “They practice hard every day, so I feel like when we turn the corner we are going to go in the right direction. I think we are actually going in the right direction, once we turn the corner the wins will show.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, and this is the toughest schedule I’ve ever started out with. It has been a tough schedule for sure, but you get better by playing better teams, right? It would be nice to throw some wins in there, and we’ll get there.”

Eastern was led by Pinkerton with 19 points, finishing with eight two-point baskets and he was 3-of-8 from the free-throw line. Dick totaled 17 points, as he made eight two-pointers and was 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

The Warriors also had the following final scoring totals: Ramer (11), Carter Cluxton (2), Vance (4) and Florence (3). EHS finished with 21 two-point baskets, three 3-pointers, and they were 6-of-14 from the free-throw line. 

Eastern is scheduled to play again Saturday, Dec. 27 at home vs. Eastern Pike in a non-conference game. 

Hillsboro is scheduled to play Tuesday, Dec. 30 on the road in a non-conference game against the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs (3-4) in a game with two Highland County rivals. 

BOX SCORE
EHS    17 09 16 15 — 57
HHS    11 09 16 09 — 45

EASTERN (57) — C.Pinkerton 8 (0) 3-8 19, S.Ramer 2 (2) 1-2 11, B.Vance 2 (0) 0-0 4, M.Dick 8 (0) 1-2 17, C.Cluxton 1 (0) 0-0 2, C.Florence 0 (1) 1-2 4. TOTALS: 21 (3) 6-14 57. 

HILLSBORO (45) — B.Juillerat 0 (2) 0-0 6, M.Dumpert 1 (1) 0-0 5, J.Hochstuhl 1 (0) 0-0 2, J.Howland 5 (3) 11-11 30, T.Captain 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 8 (6) 11-11 45.