Hillsboro Lady Indians season comes to a close

FRANKFORT — The Hillsboro Lady Indians had trouble converting shots throughout their Division II SE District Sectional Quarterfinal game Monday night against the Logan Elm Lady Braves.

Though HHS did take the lead in the third frame, they were unable to put together a consistent offensive effort, seeing their season come to an end by a 42-33 score at Adena High School.

The Lady Indians shot 10-of-53 from the field and were 10-of-35 from the free-throw line, which aided Logan Elm in the season finale of the Lady Indians, as Hillsboro finishes the year at 4-18 overall.

“We struggled to make shots all year,” HHS head coach JR Moberly said. “We were 1-of-13 in the first quarter, but our kids played so hard. On defense they went at it on the boards and played so hard as a group. They really got after it and played hard.

“I told them I want them to be upset with this loss. You should never be happy with a loss, but don’t hang your head because you gave everything you had and left it all out there.”

HHS was held to just two points at the end of the first quarter, though the Lady Braves scored just seven points in the same frame for a 7-2 score once the first eight minutes ticked away. Hillsboro’s two points in the first came off a steal and layup by Karleigh Hopkins with 2:05 left in the opening frame for a 5-2 deficit.

Hopkins led the Lady Indians with nine points on the night.

“She plays hard and I thought she handled the basketball well,” Moberly said. “We had to have someone generate points and she’s that. She’ll look topush and attack and generate some offense. She plays hard on defense too.”

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In the second frame, the Lady Indians outscored LE, 8-7 with HHS scoring their first points of the second frame with 4:02 left in the quarter as Madi Marsh sank a layup, with HHS trailing 11-4 following those points. As HHS trailed 13-7 late in the second, the Lady Indians had a spark of offense in the final 2:03 of the first half as Kelsey Burns sank a free throw, Lana Grover scored two points and Hopkins sank a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the quarter for a 13-10 deficit after two quarters.

HHS had their best quarter of offense in the third frame with a 14-point breakout, but Logan Elm kept the score close with 12 points of their own for a 25-24 Lady Braves lead after three quarters. In the third, within the first three minutes, HHS went on a 6-0 run to take the lead for the only time in the game.

That run began with a layup by Hopkins, followed by a put back basket by Natalie Sullivan and two free throws by Riley Moberly for the 16-15 lead with 5:06 left in the third quarter. LE answered with a 6-0 run of their own to regain the lead at 21-16 with around 3:00 left in the same quarter.

HHS later trailed by six points with 1:24 left in the third, but free throw conversions by Hopkins, Moberly and Kaley Burns left HHS trailing but just a single point at 25-24.

In the final quarter, HHS scored nine points, but Logan Elm broke away with 17 points in the fourth for the win.

Other final scoring for the Lady Indians included Moberly with five points, Sullivan and Grover with four points, Sydney Bobbitt and Marsh with two points each and Kelsey Burns with one point.

HHS had no seniors on their roster this season.

“If nothing else, you can’t fault the effort tonight,” Moberly said. “That was the only thing we could control and we know we need to work on our sooting and to get into the weight room this summer.”

Lucas led LE with 12 points, and Diehl followed with 10 points. The Lady Braves finished 15-of-23 from the free-throw line.

Next for LE is a sectional semifinal game against Chillicothe on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at AHS.