2019-20 Hillsboro Indians Basketball Preview
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
It is a new era for the Hillsboro Indians this upcoming season as they have a new head coach, three seniors, six juniors and three sophomores who are looking to get the program back to being competitive — and back into the thick of things in the Frontier Athletic Conference.
The new head coach for the Indians is Miles Burton, as he most recently has been a varsity assistant coach at Goshen High School and is a Blanchester High School graduate. Burton replaces former head coach Bruce Miles, who was the head coach of the Indians for the past five seasons.
Hillsboro reached the sectional finals during the 2018-19 season, finishing last season at 10-14 overall and 3-7 in the FAC. The Indians won one tournament game last year, against the Miami Trace Panthers in the sectional semifinals, before losing to the Zane Trace Pioneers.
That was last season, and now the Indians have seniors Deavin Cumberland, Silas Simmons and Caleb Crawford on the roster.
The juniors are Ryan Scott, Jakwon Clark, Lawton Parry, Brad Miller, Nick Lewis and Colton Hunter.
Sophomores are Hunter Price, Quinton Captain and Ethan Parry.
Burton said he wants the culture to change with his program as he enters his first year at the helm.
“We are trying to change the culture. We expect our players to be excellent teammates and do the little things that winning teams and programs do,” Burton said. “We feel we have a talented roster top to bottom, and that if we are able to come together, we can have some success.”
To get the Indians to the top of the mountain in the FAC, the first thing Burton wants from his team is for each player to “be a good teammate.” There are also changes on the court that will be made to gain improvement over last season.
“Being a good teammate, having energy both on and off the floor, communicating, responding well to adversity,” he said. “We also have changed up a lot of our man-to-man defensive principles and installed a much more deliberate offense.”
The preseason for the Indians has been interesting as the team has changed, as they’ve lost players to graduation from last season and gained new members to the varsity squad.
“The preseason has gone really well. We have had great attendance ever since I stepped foot in Hillsboro,” Burton said. “We made a big commitment to the weight room this summer, and the guys are seeing results. Almost all of October, we were lucky enough to have around 30 players at every open gym, which is awesome.”
Burton also spoke of the two returning lettermen of the Indians from a season ago in Miller and Scott. Last season, Scott averaged 9.1 points per game, and Miller averaged 7.2 points per game, along with 4.4 rebounds per game.
“Our two returning lettermen are Ryan Scott and Brad Miller,” Burton said. “Both Ryan and Brad have been extremely dedicated going all the way back to June, and their hard work is paying off. Last year Ryan played alongside (now-graduated starters) Mason Swayne (7.8 ppg.) and Ethan Watson (1,000-plus point scorer, 14.9 ppg.), and with Swayne and Watson graduated, Ryan will be asked to take on a larger ball-handling and scoring role than in the past.
“Brad is a returning starting forward that gained valuable experience last year. Brad is a workhorse and refuses to let his opponent outwork him. Brad will be asked to take on a larger offensive role than last year as well as continuing to be a centerpiece of our defense.”
As for another upperclassman for Hillsboro, Cumberland averaged 6.1 ppg. in the 2018-19 season, where he was a member of the Whiteoak Wildcats.
Burton also spoke about Price and how he can be a standout player this season.
“Hunter Price is primed for a breakout sophomore season,” Burton said. “He missed the majority of last year due to a foot injury.”
Playing in the FAC isn’t easy, and for the first two seasons of the conference’s existence, the title of champion belongs to the Chillicothe Cavaliers. “Chillicothe is the class of the conference until proven otherwise,” Burton said. “What Coach (Eric) Huffer has been able to do with that program is very impressive. After Chillicothe, I see the league being fairly even, which should lead to a fun league season where anyone can win any given night.”
Hillsboro also has 12 non-conference games this season, as they are: vs. Eastern, at Lynchburg-Clay, vs. Clermont Northeastern, at Clinton-Massie, at Ripley, at Goshen, vs. Paint Valley, vs. Fairfield, vs. Western Brown, at Unioto, at East Clinton and vs. Blanchester.
For Hillsboro to achieve their goals, everything comes back to “changing and improving the culture” within the boys basketball program. The last winning season for the Indians was the 2011-12 season when they won a second consecutive league title in the now-defunct South Central Ohio League (SCOL). That season, the Indians were 15-6 overall.
“Our goals this season are end-of-the-year-oriented, so it's important for us to continue to improve our culture all year long,” Burton said. “Basketball is a very long season, making it difficult to stay focused on the ‘little things’ for the whole season, but that is what winning programs do, and we are striving to be a winning program.
“I’m looking forward to seeing our team mature and come together. We have a great group of guys who are hungry to win, they just don't know how to yet.”
The Indians will open their 2019-20 season at home vs. Eastern on Dec. 3 with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
The new head coach for the Indians is Miles Burton, as he most recently has been a varsity assistant coach at Goshen High School and is a Blanchester High School graduate. Burton replaces former head coach Bruce Miles, who was the head coach of the Indians for the past five seasons.
Hillsboro reached the sectional finals during the 2018-19 season, finishing last season at 10-14 overall and 3-7 in the FAC. The Indians won one tournament game last year, against the Miami Trace Panthers in the sectional semifinals, before losing to the Zane Trace Pioneers.
That was last season, and now the Indians have seniors Deavin Cumberland, Silas Simmons and Caleb Crawford on the roster.
The juniors are Ryan Scott, Jakwon Clark, Lawton Parry, Brad Miller, Nick Lewis and Colton Hunter.
Sophomores are Hunter Price, Quinton Captain and Ethan Parry.
Burton said he wants the culture to change with his program as he enters his first year at the helm.
“We are trying to change the culture. We expect our players to be excellent teammates and do the little things that winning teams and programs do,” Burton said. “We feel we have a talented roster top to bottom, and that if we are able to come together, we can have some success.”
To get the Indians to the top of the mountain in the FAC, the first thing Burton wants from his team is for each player to “be a good teammate.” There are also changes on the court that will be made to gain improvement over last season.
“Being a good teammate, having energy both on and off the floor, communicating, responding well to adversity,” he said. “We also have changed up a lot of our man-to-man defensive principles and installed a much more deliberate offense.”
The preseason for the Indians has been interesting as the team has changed, as they’ve lost players to graduation from last season and gained new members to the varsity squad.
“The preseason has gone really well. We have had great attendance ever since I stepped foot in Hillsboro,” Burton said. “We made a big commitment to the weight room this summer, and the guys are seeing results. Almost all of October, we were lucky enough to have around 30 players at every open gym, which is awesome.”
Burton also spoke of the two returning lettermen of the Indians from a season ago in Miller and Scott. Last season, Scott averaged 9.1 points per game, and Miller averaged 7.2 points per game, along with 4.4 rebounds per game.
“Our two returning lettermen are Ryan Scott and Brad Miller,” Burton said. “Both Ryan and Brad have been extremely dedicated going all the way back to June, and their hard work is paying off. Last year Ryan played alongside (now-graduated starters) Mason Swayne (7.8 ppg.) and Ethan Watson (1,000-plus point scorer, 14.9 ppg.), and with Swayne and Watson graduated, Ryan will be asked to take on a larger ball-handling and scoring role than in the past.
“Brad is a returning starting forward that gained valuable experience last year. Brad is a workhorse and refuses to let his opponent outwork him. Brad will be asked to take on a larger offensive role than last year as well as continuing to be a centerpiece of our defense.”
As for another upperclassman for Hillsboro, Cumberland averaged 6.1 ppg. in the 2018-19 season, where he was a member of the Whiteoak Wildcats.
Burton also spoke about Price and how he can be a standout player this season.
“Hunter Price is primed for a breakout sophomore season,” Burton said. “He missed the majority of last year due to a foot injury.”
Playing in the FAC isn’t easy, and for the first two seasons of the conference’s existence, the title of champion belongs to the Chillicothe Cavaliers. “Chillicothe is the class of the conference until proven otherwise,” Burton said. “What Coach (Eric) Huffer has been able to do with that program is very impressive. After Chillicothe, I see the league being fairly even, which should lead to a fun league season where anyone can win any given night.”
Hillsboro also has 12 non-conference games this season, as they are: vs. Eastern, at Lynchburg-Clay, vs. Clermont Northeastern, at Clinton-Massie, at Ripley, at Goshen, vs. Paint Valley, vs. Fairfield, vs. Western Brown, at Unioto, at East Clinton and vs. Blanchester.
For Hillsboro to achieve their goals, everything comes back to “changing and improving the culture” within the boys basketball program. The last winning season for the Indians was the 2011-12 season when they won a second consecutive league title in the now-defunct South Central Ohio League (SCOL). That season, the Indians were 15-6 overall.
“Our goals this season are end-of-the-year-oriented, so it's important for us to continue to improve our culture all year long,” Burton said. “Basketball is a very long season, making it difficult to stay focused on the ‘little things’ for the whole season, but that is what winning programs do, and we are striving to be a winning program.
“I’m looking forward to seeing our team mature and come together. We have a great group of guys who are hungry to win, they just don't know how to yet.”
The Indians will open their 2019-20 season at home vs. Eastern on Dec. 3 with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.