Hillsboro’s Jack Howland nets 1,000th career point; Indians win against Broncos

LEESBURG — The Hillsboro Indians added their newest member to the 1,000-point scorers club, as junior Jack Howland earned the milestone moment Saturday evening at the Chad Hodson Classic at Fairfield’s Grandle Gymnasium. 

The Indians (2-8) defeated the Western Brown Broncos 70-58 in the non-conference game, and besides their second consecutive win, the biggest moment of the game came with 6:03 left in the second quarter, as that’s when Howland scored his 1,000th career point. He is the first HHS boys player to reach the scoring milestone since 2019. 

Howland’s 1,000th point saw the junior looking for the assist as he sent the ball nearly the length of the court to senior Jeven Hochstuhl on a fastbreak play. Hochstuhl saved the ball from going out of bounds with an off-balanced pass back to Howland, who took the ball to the hoop with a one-handed bucket for a then-lead of 22-10, and the celebration began. 

“I’m just grateful for it. I’m glad I got the opportunity to do this, and I’m thankful for everybody for supporting me, and I’m glad to be here,” Jack Howland said. “I had a good group of supporters come out who want to support me.

“I didn’t want to force too much, and just wanted it to come to me, and if it happens, it happens. Ultimately, I just want to win and get my teammates involved. We play pretty good as a team, and we try to move the ball and not base it around one player, and just to play as a team and play together.

“It is also pretty cool to score my 1,000th at my old school, and again, I’m just glad for the opportunity.”

The game stopped momentarily as Howland was first congratulated by teammates, then his head coach and father Josh Howland. Jack received the game ball and took it to the stands, presenting it to his mother Tricia before going back onto the court to resume the game as the crowd gave Howland a standing ovation. 

Coach Howland spoke about the work Jack has put in to reach this point of his high school career. 

“He started playing AAU basketball when he was 3 years old, so he’s been getting up and making 500 shots seven days a week since he was about 10 years old, and he was making about 300 a day before that,” he said. “He’s definitely got an offensive mind. He’s like having another coach out there. 

“I had that last year with Tate Davis, and he had a great mentor with Tate Davis as far as how to handle himself, how to be humble, and understanding everybody has a valuable role on the team. Jack knows that every one of his teammates are just as important as him, and they are.

“I’m proud of him as a father and a coach for sure.”

Howland ended the game with 33 points –– he needed 13 to reach the milestone — with the points scored off eight two-point baskets, two 3-pointers, and he was 11-of-13 from the free-throw line. He also finished with eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. 

The Indians led 11-6 when the first quarter ended, starting the game with two made free throws by Howland. After Western Brown took the lead with two consecutive buckets, Howland made two free throws, and teammate junior Brady Juillerat scored a put-back basket with 3:25 left for a 6-4 HHS lead. He finished with two points, 12 rebounds and three assists. 

“You look at the point spread, Jack had 33, Jeven with 14, Mason with 13 and Inman with six, that’s what you are looking for,” HHS head coach Josh Howland said. “That’s what has to happen. Typically there is a primary scorer, but you’ve got to have other guys who can step in and score when it is there, and they did a really nice job of it.

“I also thought everybody did a decent job defensively. We gave up too many offensive rebounds again. We gave up six in the second quarter and that’s what kept them in the first half, and to close out the game, that’s what kept them within 10 to 12 points.”

HHS ended up having an 8-0 run to end the quarter with Howland scoring two points off a put-back basket, and Hochstuhl grabbed a rebound, stepped behind the three-point line and drained the shot with 1:19 left on the clock for the 11-4 score. Hochstuhl ended the game with 14 points, totaling four two-point baskets and two 3-pointers. He also had one rebound, two assists and one steal. 

“We spread the ball around and that’s what you’ve got to do,” Coach Howland said. “It has to be everybody. Everybody has to contribute, and that’s on all of us. We’ve got to make sure everybody’s getting the looks they want, and we are finding the good looks.

“Offensively, this was our most well-rounded game without question. We played more like a team than I have seen us play all year, moving the ball and finding the right guys.”

The second quarter started with a 3-pointer from Howland, and for good measure he sank another 3-pointer for a 17-8 lead with 7:05 on the clock. Next was a 3-pointer by Hochstuhl, and then came the milestone moment with the aforementioned layup by Howland for the 1,000th point with 6:03 left in the first half. 

Later, HHS took a 28-13 lead following four points from Howland and a layup from sophomore Dawson Barnett, as Barnett also had one assist and one steal. 

WBHS answered with six consecutive points, and the Indians ended the first half with another basket from Howland for a 30-19 lead. 

The Indians held a 49-42 lead after three quarters, though they were outscored 23-19 in the frame. HHS in the third had six points from senior Mason Dumpert, four points by Hochstuhl, two points by sophomore Easton Inman and seven points from Howland. 

Hillsboro’s fourth frame saw them score 21 points, with seven points from Dumpert, four points by Hochstuhl, six points scored by Hochstuhl and Inman adding four points. Dumpert ended the game with 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Inman finished with six points, three rebounds and two assists. 

Hillsboro ended the game with 20 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers (Dumpert 1, Hochstuhl 2, Howland 2), and they went 15-of-21 from the free-throw line. 

The Indians also had one rebound and one assist from Zack Brown. Tre Captain totaled two rebounds and four assists. 

Western Brown in the third saw their 23 points scored by senior Zaiden Nichols, sophomore Deon Bradford, senior Connor Gulley and Andre Mitchell. WBHS in the fourth had scored 16 points with points from Nichols, senior Tyler Hitt, freshman Nolan Young, Gulley and Mitchell. 

WBHS was led in scoring by Gulley with 25 points, followed by Mitchell with 17 points. The remaining final scoring totals for the Broncos included: Nichols (4), Hitt (2), Young (3), Harmon (2) and Bradford (5). 

Totals for the Broncos included 20 two-point baskets, two 3-pointers, and they went 12-of-20 from the free-throw line. 

MVPs for the game were Hillsboro's Howland and Western Brown's Gulley.

Hillsboro’s win moves their overall record to 2-8. Western Brown now stands at 2-7 overall. 

Next for the Indians is a road non-conference game on Wednesday, Jan. 7 against the Circleville Tigers (7-2) at CHS. 

BOX SCORE
WBHS    06 13 23 16 — 58
HHS    11 19 19 21 — 70 

HILLSBORO (70) — B.Juillerat 1 (0) 0-0 2, M.Dumpert 4 (1) 2-6 13, D.Barnett 1 (0) 0-0 2, J.Hochstuhl 4 (2) 0-0 14, J.Howland 8 (2) 11-13 33, E.Inman 2 (0) 2-2 6. TOTALS: 20 (5) 15-21 70. 

WESTERN BROWN (59) — Z.Nichols 1 (0) 2-3 4, T.Hitt 0 (0) 2-2 2, N.Young 0 (1) 0-0 3, B.Harmon 1 (0) 0-0 2, D.Bradford 1 (1) 0-1 5, C.Gulley 11 (0) 3-6 25, A.Mitchell 6 (0) 5-8 17. TOTALS: 20 (2) 12-20 58. 

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