Hillsboro Indians defend home court with FAC win over Miami Trace
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Both the Hillsboro Indians and the Miami Trace Panthers have improved since their first meeting earlier in the season, as shown on Friday night as the Indians fended off the visiting Panthers by a 42-38 score in Frontier Athletic Conference play.
The Indians (3-5, 7-9) used scoring from seven different players to gain their third straight win as Mason Swayne broke out for 14 points to lead all scorers on Friday night, improving the Indians to 7-9 overall on the season.
“I’m really thrilled to get out of here with the W after the canceled practices and layoffs due to the weather this week,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “I knew Rob [Pittser] would have his guys ready tonight, and they certainly were.”
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There were also nine points from Ethan Watson and eight points by Reece Bloomfield in the win. The Indians saw four points from Ryan Scott, three points by Gavin Temple and scoring two points each were Luke Magulac and Brad Miller to complete their scoring.
MTHS (0-8, 1-15) was led by Austin Brown and Austin Matthews with eight points each.
The first frame saw the Indians lead by a 12-10 score at the conclusion of the opening quarter. That scoring began with a 7-0 scoring run by the Indians that included a 3-pointer by Swayne 40 seconds into the game, followed by consecutive jumpers by Ethan Watson to give the Tribe a seven-point advantage with 5:13 on the clock.
Miami Trace broke the run with two free throws by Cameron Moore, only to see Swayne sink another bucket from the field, followed by a free throw by Watson to give HHS a 10-2 lead with 3:43 left in the opening quarter.
The Panthers answered with a 3-pointer by Matthews, only to see Watson sink a layup at the 2:08 mark of the quarter for their final points of the first frame. MT ended the opening frame quarter with a 3-pointer by Matthews and a layup by Kyler Conn for the 12-10 score.
Hillsboro won the second frame at 12-7, though it was the Panthers who scored first in the frame, tying the score at 12-12. HHS regained the advantage off a basket by Magulac. The second saw the score tied at 14 and 17, which included a 3-pointer by Miami Trace’s Dylan Bernard, and later the score was tied at 19 by MTHS. They took the lead at the end of the first half with a 3-pointer by Ethan Steele for a 22-19 advantage.
To start the second half, HHS scored the first four points of the third with baskets from Watson and Swayne. After two points scored by the Panthers, Swayne sank a 3-pointer and then followed with a put-back bucket for a 28-24 advantage with 4:37 left in the quarter.
As the quarter continued, MT’s Brown scored a basket on a tip-in in the paint, and 20 seconds later, the Indians called the first timeout of the game with 3:15 on the clock. The Indians kept what was a 30-28 lead and extended it by three points following a clutch trey by Gavin Temple with 24 seconds left in the quarter for a five-point lead after three frames.
The Indians held MTHS to just five points in the fourth, and maybe the most impressive of the game and maybe even more came from Bloomfield. The play saw Bloomfield perfect a fake out with the basketball, break away opposite of the defender, then drive his way to the basket with a one-handed layup to increase the Indians’ lead to 37-31 wth 6:33 remaining in regulation.
“Being patient and sharing the basketball as a team, we can get good shots when we are patient,” Miles said. “Hats off to our guys in the second half. I thought we did a great job of cranking up the pressure late in the third and early fourth.”
MT got back to within four points of the Indians with 31.3 left in the game, trailing by a 42-38 score, as those were the final points scored of the game. HHS secured the win as Bloomfield made a late steal, passing the ball to Swayne as time expired.
“Reece played well tonight, is a smart kid, and he made a big play at the end of the game where he got the ball and threw it out to the front court for us,” Miles said. “He made some big plays, and again, he’s so smart. His leadership showed out there, and he was great tonight.”
Other MT final scoring included Steele with six points and Bernard with five points, while Moore and Conn each had four points apiece. Rounding out the Panthers’ scoring was Logan Rodgers with three points, sinking a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
For the game, the Indians tallied 14 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and were 2-of-5 from the free-throw line. MT totaled nine two-point baskets, six 3-pointers and were 2-of-6 in their free-throw line.
Next for the Indians is a non-conference home game on Tuesday, Jan. 29 against Goshen.
The Indians (3-5, 7-9) used scoring from seven different players to gain their third straight win as Mason Swayne broke out for 14 points to lead all scorers on Friday night, improving the Indians to 7-9 overall on the season.
“I’m really thrilled to get out of here with the W after the canceled practices and layoffs due to the weather this week,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “I knew Rob [Pittser] would have his guys ready tonight, and they certainly were.”
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There were also nine points from Ethan Watson and eight points by Reece Bloomfield in the win. The Indians saw four points from Ryan Scott, three points by Gavin Temple and scoring two points each were Luke Magulac and Brad Miller to complete their scoring.
MTHS (0-8, 1-15) was led by Austin Brown and Austin Matthews with eight points each.
The first frame saw the Indians lead by a 12-10 score at the conclusion of the opening quarter. That scoring began with a 7-0 scoring run by the Indians that included a 3-pointer by Swayne 40 seconds into the game, followed by consecutive jumpers by Ethan Watson to give the Tribe a seven-point advantage with 5:13 on the clock.
Miami Trace broke the run with two free throws by Cameron Moore, only to see Swayne sink another bucket from the field, followed by a free throw by Watson to give HHS a 10-2 lead with 3:43 left in the opening quarter.
The Panthers answered with a 3-pointer by Matthews, only to see Watson sink a layup at the 2:08 mark of the quarter for their final points of the first frame. MT ended the opening frame quarter with a 3-pointer by Matthews and a layup by Kyler Conn for the 12-10 score.
Hillsboro won the second frame at 12-7, though it was the Panthers who scored first in the frame, tying the score at 12-12. HHS regained the advantage off a basket by Magulac. The second saw the score tied at 14 and 17, which included a 3-pointer by Miami Trace’s Dylan Bernard, and later the score was tied at 19 by MTHS. They took the lead at the end of the first half with a 3-pointer by Ethan Steele for a 22-19 advantage.
To start the second half, HHS scored the first four points of the third with baskets from Watson and Swayne. After two points scored by the Panthers, Swayne sank a 3-pointer and then followed with a put-back bucket for a 28-24 advantage with 4:37 left in the quarter.
As the quarter continued, MT’s Brown scored a basket on a tip-in in the paint, and 20 seconds later, the Indians called the first timeout of the game with 3:15 on the clock. The Indians kept what was a 30-28 lead and extended it by three points following a clutch trey by Gavin Temple with 24 seconds left in the quarter for a five-point lead after three frames.
The Indians held MTHS to just five points in the fourth, and maybe the most impressive of the game and maybe even more came from Bloomfield. The play saw Bloomfield perfect a fake out with the basketball, break away opposite of the defender, then drive his way to the basket with a one-handed layup to increase the Indians’ lead to 37-31 wth 6:33 remaining in regulation.
“Being patient and sharing the basketball as a team, we can get good shots when we are patient,” Miles said. “Hats off to our guys in the second half. I thought we did a great job of cranking up the pressure late in the third and early fourth.”
MT got back to within four points of the Indians with 31.3 left in the game, trailing by a 42-38 score, as those were the final points scored of the game. HHS secured the win as Bloomfield made a late steal, passing the ball to Swayne as time expired.
“Reece played well tonight, is a smart kid, and he made a big play at the end of the game where he got the ball and threw it out to the front court for us,” Miles said. “He made some big plays, and again, he’s so smart. His leadership showed out there, and he was great tonight.”
Other MT final scoring included Steele with six points and Bernard with five points, while Moore and Conn each had four points apiece. Rounding out the Panthers’ scoring was Logan Rodgers with three points, sinking a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
For the game, the Indians tallied 14 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and were 2-of-5 from the free-throw line. MT totaled nine two-point baskets, six 3-pointers and were 2-of-6 in their free-throw line.
Next for the Indians is a non-conference home game on Tuesday, Jan. 29 against Goshen.