Hillsboro Indians upset in sectional finals by No. 14 seeded Gallia Academy
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The storybook ending for the Hillsboro Indians never came, and instead a nightmare scenario occurred for the No. 3 seeded Indians in their Division II SE District Sectional Final game on Thursday night. The co-champions of the Frontier Athletic Conference had troubles in the paint and just had too many missed chances against the No. 14 seeded Gallia Academy Blue Devils.
Though the Indians never quit and put heavy pressure on the visiting Blue Devils, the Indians were one point shy of the Blue Devils, falling by a 59-58 score at Hillsboro High School.
The Indians end their season at 18-4 overall, and at one point this season they won 14 straight games. HHS lost their final two games played, including the regular-season finale and the game on Thursday night.
All in all for the Indians, they accomplished much success in the 2020-21 season. They were the first HHS boys team to be conference champions in a decade, and they brought an exciting brand of basketball that led them to the aforementioned 14-game winning streak this season, doing so with nine seniors on the roster.
Back to the game on Thursday night, the Blue Devils played spoiler against Hillsboro as the visitors dominated the paint with many second-chance opportunities that led to points, with the Blue Devils out-rebounding the Indians, 12-2 in the fourth quarter alone. For the game, Gallia Academy out-rebounded Hillsboro, 31-21.
During the sectional final game, the Indians trailed 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, with the score being tied three times at 2, 5 and 12 points, as it was Hunter Price tying the score at 12-12 with 2:02 left on the clock in the opening frame with a two-point basket. The frame ended with a 3-pointer by Gallia Academy’s Cooper Davis for the three-point HHS deficit.
The second frame began with Gallia Academy going on a 9-0 run to the 5:12 mark of the frame for a 12-point lead over the host Indians at 24-12. That run of scoring also included missed chances under the hoop for the Indians, and a turnover which led to the run of scoring by the visiting Blue Devils.
Hillsboro stopped the scoring run when Quintin Captain sank a 3-pointer with 4:09 on the clock, and after two Gallia Academy points, Captain again kept the Indians in the game with a 3-pointer, as the junior eventually finished the game with 19 points to lead the Indians.
After GAHS made the score 28-18, Lawton Parry scored the next three Hillsboro points, only to see the Blue Devils answer with a drive to the basket with 1:31 on the clock for a 30-22 score. Parry finished the game with 15 points.
Ryan Scott knocked down a basket with 1:08 left in the second frame, and that was followed with two points by Brad Miller of HHS. Scott totaled 10 points for HHS, while Miller finished with six points.
Following GAHS scoring their final two points of the first half, the Indians were last to add points to the scoreboard with a layup by Parry with 20 seconds remaining in the frame for a halftime deficit for the Indians of 32-28.
The Indians still trailed by four points when the third frame was finished, this time by a 44-40 score. Both HHS and Gallia Academy scored 12 points in the third quarter, including Scott and Parry each making a 3-pointer, plus four points by Price (who totaled eight points) and two points from Miller.
The Indians made the game very interesting in the final eight minutes of action, but it was two free throws by Gallia Academy’s Isaac Clary that started the final quarter, increasing their lead to 46-40. Clary was tied for the team-high in scoring for GAHS with 19 points.
Captain was clutch once again, this time with a two-point basket at the 7:25 mark, but the Blue Devils answered with four straight points, building their lead to eight points at 50-42 with 6:18 left in regulation.
HHS answered with two free throws made by Scott and a steal and layup by Price to get back to within four points of tying the score with 5:33 left in regulation. Again, the Blue Devils scored four points in the paint, pushing their lead back to eight points and forcing the Indians to call a timeout with 4:48 on the clock.
Following the timeout, the Indians regrouped and gave one last big effort as they had Captain sink a jumper, followed by a 3-pointer by Parry. Following a GAHS timeout, Captain forced a turnover at the 2:52 mark of the frame, then he made a free throw nine seconds later, making it a two-point game at 54-52 with HHS still trailing.
The Blue Devils added two more points under the hoop, then with 25.9 on the clock in the final frame they scored two points from the free-throw line by Kenyon Franklin, increasing their lead back to six points. Franklin had the co-lead in scoring for GAHS with 19 points.
Captain responded with a three-point play, but the Blue Devils added one point with a free throw from Franklin. Captain again brought the Indians closer with a 3-pointer with 12.1 on the clock for what eventually became the final score of 59-58 with the Blue Devils in front.
HHS had a final chance with 3.9 seconds left in regulation but were unable to convert a final basket, seeing the season come to a close.
As a team, the Indians totaled 13 two-point baskets, nine 3-pointers and they were 5-of-9 from the free-throw line. As for the 3-pointers, Parry made four, Captain made three and Scott had two.
Other final scoring for GAHS were Davis with three points, Brody Fellure with eight points, and Carson Call with 10 points. As a team, the Blue Devils totaled 18 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers and were 8-of-12 from the free-throw line.
Seniors for the Indians are: Jakwon Clark, Coltin Hunter, Nick Lewis, Brad Miller, Lawton Parry, Jack Roades, Ryan Scott, Shane Sullivan and Blake Tira.
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Though the Indians never quit and put heavy pressure on the visiting Blue Devils, the Indians were one point shy of the Blue Devils, falling by a 59-58 score at Hillsboro High School.
The Indians end their season at 18-4 overall, and at one point this season they won 14 straight games. HHS lost their final two games played, including the regular-season finale and the game on Thursday night.
All in all for the Indians, they accomplished much success in the 2020-21 season. They were the first HHS boys team to be conference champions in a decade, and they brought an exciting brand of basketball that led them to the aforementioned 14-game winning streak this season, doing so with nine seniors on the roster.
Back to the game on Thursday night, the Blue Devils played spoiler against Hillsboro as the visitors dominated the paint with many second-chance opportunities that led to points, with the Blue Devils out-rebounding the Indians, 12-2 in the fourth quarter alone. For the game, Gallia Academy out-rebounded Hillsboro, 31-21.
During the sectional final game, the Indians trailed 15-12 at the end of the first quarter, with the score being tied three times at 2, 5 and 12 points, as it was Hunter Price tying the score at 12-12 with 2:02 left on the clock in the opening frame with a two-point basket. The frame ended with a 3-pointer by Gallia Academy’s Cooper Davis for the three-point HHS deficit.
The second frame began with Gallia Academy going on a 9-0 run to the 5:12 mark of the frame for a 12-point lead over the host Indians at 24-12. That run of scoring also included missed chances under the hoop for the Indians, and a turnover which led to the run of scoring by the visiting Blue Devils.
Hillsboro stopped the scoring run when Quintin Captain sank a 3-pointer with 4:09 on the clock, and after two Gallia Academy points, Captain again kept the Indians in the game with a 3-pointer, as the junior eventually finished the game with 19 points to lead the Indians.
After GAHS made the score 28-18, Lawton Parry scored the next three Hillsboro points, only to see the Blue Devils answer with a drive to the basket with 1:31 on the clock for a 30-22 score. Parry finished the game with 15 points.
Ryan Scott knocked down a basket with 1:08 left in the second frame, and that was followed with two points by Brad Miller of HHS. Scott totaled 10 points for HHS, while Miller finished with six points.
Following GAHS scoring their final two points of the first half, the Indians were last to add points to the scoreboard with a layup by Parry with 20 seconds remaining in the frame for a halftime deficit for the Indians of 32-28.
The Indians still trailed by four points when the third frame was finished, this time by a 44-40 score. Both HHS and Gallia Academy scored 12 points in the third quarter, including Scott and Parry each making a 3-pointer, plus four points by Price (who totaled eight points) and two points from Miller.
The Indians made the game very interesting in the final eight minutes of action, but it was two free throws by Gallia Academy’s Isaac Clary that started the final quarter, increasing their lead to 46-40. Clary was tied for the team-high in scoring for GAHS with 19 points.
Captain was clutch once again, this time with a two-point basket at the 7:25 mark, but the Blue Devils answered with four straight points, building their lead to eight points at 50-42 with 6:18 left in regulation.
HHS answered with two free throws made by Scott and a steal and layup by Price to get back to within four points of tying the score with 5:33 left in regulation. Again, the Blue Devils scored four points in the paint, pushing their lead back to eight points and forcing the Indians to call a timeout with 4:48 on the clock.
Following the timeout, the Indians regrouped and gave one last big effort as they had Captain sink a jumper, followed by a 3-pointer by Parry. Following a GAHS timeout, Captain forced a turnover at the 2:52 mark of the frame, then he made a free throw nine seconds later, making it a two-point game at 54-52 with HHS still trailing.
The Blue Devils added two more points under the hoop, then with 25.9 on the clock in the final frame they scored two points from the free-throw line by Kenyon Franklin, increasing their lead back to six points. Franklin had the co-lead in scoring for GAHS with 19 points.
Captain responded with a three-point play, but the Blue Devils added one point with a free throw from Franklin. Captain again brought the Indians closer with a 3-pointer with 12.1 on the clock for what eventually became the final score of 59-58 with the Blue Devils in front.
HHS had a final chance with 3.9 seconds left in regulation but were unable to convert a final basket, seeing the season come to a close.
As a team, the Indians totaled 13 two-point baskets, nine 3-pointers and they were 5-of-9 from the free-throw line. As for the 3-pointers, Parry made four, Captain made three and Scott had two.
Other final scoring for GAHS were Davis with three points, Brody Fellure with eight points, and Carson Call with 10 points. As a team, the Blue Devils totaled 18 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers and were 8-of-12 from the free-throw line.
Seniors for the Indians are: Jakwon Clark, Coltin Hunter, Nick Lewis, Brad Miller, Lawton Parry, Jack Roades, Ryan Scott, Shane Sullivan and Blake Tira.
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