Hillsboro doesn't keep pace with visiting Lady Falcons

The Hillsboro Indians could not stop the Clinton-Massie Lady Falcons Saturday night in their South Central Ohio League contest, and that wasn't due to overall effort … rather, the Lady Falcons were in the zone when it came to shooting the basketball.

For Hillsboro (1-2, 1-5), they played hard through the four quarters, but the overall shooting of the visiting Lady Falcons, along with their defense, was just too much for the young Lady Indians to overcome, resulting in a 76-31 loss at HHS in the SCOL showdown.

On the other hand, the Lady Falcons (3-0, 6-0) had a career-type game from guard Miquela Santoro, who totaled 33 points in the first three quarters, as she didn't set foot on the court in the fourth. She also earned a double-double by adding 12 assists, and she nearly had a triple double with eight rebounds in the game as well, along with adding three steals and having just one turnover.

The game wasn't out of reach in the first quarter, as the Lady Indians were first to score in the league matchup, with Madison Snyder sinking a jumper with 6:19 on the clock, only to see Santoro begin her scoring with a 3-pointer at the 5:49 mark of the first, followed with five more consecutive points to push the Lady Falcons out front, 8-2 with 5:13 on the clock.

Snyder broke up the scoring run with a jumper at the 4:55 mark of the opening frame, only to see the Lady Falcons take a 10-4 lead with a jumper by Madison Purkey.

It was Snyder again who added to the HHS side of the score board with a three-point play, as the senior sank a jumper while being fouled, followed with converting a free throw for 10-7 deficit with 3:59 left in the first.

Snyder led HHS with 17 points.

Santoro answered with five more points, including another 3-pointer as CM went on a 7-0 run for a 17-7 with 2:35 still left on the first quarter clock. Snyder ended the quarter with four straight points for the Lady Indians to bring HHS within six points of CM at 17-11.

“Santoro had an outstanding game,” Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly said. “It seems like everything she put up tonight went in. It wasn’t just her… they were rolling, and on the other end, we were struggling to find the basket.

“I thought Madi Marsh did a pretty good job getting us into our offense, and Maddie Snyder played really hard.”

The remainder of the game was close to all CM, as they led 41-16 at the conclusion of the second frame, outscoring the Lady Indians, 24-5 in the quarter as HHS had their troubles defending the outside shooting game of the visiting Lady Falcons, and the defense of CM forced multiple turnovers that resulted in fast break points.

By the end of the third frame, the game was all but sealed with CM leading by 40 points at 64-24, and in the fourth, the Lady Indians added 15 points to their final total, while CM scored 12 points.

“We talked about some lessons we learned in the locker room after the game,” Moberly said. “We have to do a better job transitioning back to defense and do a better job of taking care of the basketball.”

Also scoring points for HHS were Taylor Chaney with nine and Madi Marsh with five. HHS finished 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. CM finished 5-of-7 with their free-throw shooting.

For CM, Brooke Rose totaled 11 points, and Emilie Fisher scored 14 points in the CM win.

The Lady Indians will play again on Monday when they travel to face Highland County counterpart Lynchburg-Clay. LC enters the game at 4-0 overall.