Indians control 2nd half in win over Fairfield

HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians trailed at the conclusion of the first half, but a dominating final two frames was more than enough to send them past county rival Fairfield Tuesday night. The Indians held the Lions to just 15 points in the final two quarters, giving them a 65-44 victory.

Hillsboro’s win at their home gym saw them overcome a strong Fairfield team that scored 21 points in the first eight minutes of play, as HHS trailed their Highland County counterpart, 21-14 after the first frame was completed.

From that point on, the Indians’ defense didn’t let the visiting Lions score in double figures in a quarter for the remainder of the non-league contest, even though the Indians (3-6) trailed by three points at the conclusion of the first half by a 29-26 score.

The game opened with a 3-pointer from Fairfield’s Klay Walker, but the score was quickly tied at 3-3 with two points from Phillip Mycroft and a free throw conversion by Marshall Ward with 6:22 left in the opening frame. Mycroft led the Indians with 17 points on the night.

Walker sank another 3-pointer for the Lions 20 seconds later to push the Lions back in front at 6-3, but D.J. Brown answered with two points for the Indians, though that was also answered with the third 3-pointer of the quarter for the Lions, this one by Ethan Putnam with 5:39 on the scoreboard.

Putnam scored 12 of his 16 points for the game in the first quarter, including three 3-pointers.

“Early on, we had some rotations that didn’t go in our favor, and Fairfield knocked down some of their shots,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “We gave up way too many points in the first quarter, as we want to limit teams to 10-12 points at most in a quarter.”

If that wasn’t enough, the Indians came back with a 3-pointer of their own with 5:27 left in the first, as Logan Kibler sank the bucket, and that was followed with a put-back basket by teammate Brown for a 10-9 Hillsboro lead with 4:08 left in the opening quarter.

The Lions (3-7) came back with points from Putnam, which was a 3-pointer, regaining the lead at 12-10 with 3:50 still remaining in the first. Brown made another jumper for the hosts, and the Lions roared back with a 9-2 run to end the first frame, including six points from Putnam (a 3-pointer) and a third 3-pointer by Walker for what amounted to a seven-point advantage for Fairfield following the first frame.

Walker totaled 15 points in the game for the Lions.

Though the Lions led by three points following the second frame at 29-26, the Indians won the quarter at 12-8 and the second half at 39-15, with HHS having a 20-point third quarter, then adding 19 more points in the final eight minutes.

“It came down to us playing well, but then having a let-down quarter,” FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. “We have to do a better job of recognizing who has the hot hand and create shots for them. Ethan scored early when they ran a box-and-one on him. We talked at halftime about coming out and establishing the pace in the second half, but in the first two or three minutes we turned over the ball and they scored points.

“You can’t give up two layups right off the bat.”

In the 20-point third frame by the Indians, Mycroft and Matthew Ryan each tallied seven points, and Ward added the other six points in the frame. Ryan ended the game with 12 points, and Ward finished with nine points, as did Kibler.

The fourth quarter saw six HHS players score points, with Ryan sinking a 3-pointer with 4:23 left in the fourth for what was then a 57-38 lead. Kibler, Brown and Mycroft each had four points in the fourth, while Cameron Reed and Josh Keets each contributed to the scoring as well. Brown finished the game with 10 points.

“We did a great job defensively in the second half … we turned our defense into offense by getting a lot of easy baskets in transition,” Miles said. “Cameron Reed gave us a lot of energy off the bench, and Josh Keets rebounded well and took care of the ball, which is what we are looking for out of him.”

As for the Lions’ second half, Walker sank his fifth 3-pointer of the game in the third (his fourth trey was in the third), and Jensen Daulton connected with a 3-pointer in the final quarter.

In JV play, the Indians defeated the Lions, 49-47. Leading HHS was Josh Keets with 17 points, and leading the Lions was Austin Setty with 13 points.

The freshman game saw the Lions win over Hillsboro, 46-37. M. Spears led the Lions with 13 points, and for HHS, E. Watson finished with 15 points.