Hillsboro plays close with Miami Trace in FAC loss
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Hillsboro Lady Indians took the Miami Trace Lady Panthers to the limit for the first three quarters, even leading at the end of the first frame, but in the end the Lady Panthers were too strong and defeated HHS, 44-33.
Nothing came easy for the visiting Lady Lady Panthers in the Frontier Athletic Conference showdown on Saturday afternoon, and that was the case in the first frame where Hillsboro held a 14-6 lead at the end of the opening eight minutes of action.
“I thought we played three good quarters and two really good quarters, but they made some adjustments in the second quarter against our zone. They made a couple shots, they hit five threes, so they shot better than what we thought they would coming in,” HHS head coach JR Moberly said. “In the fourth quarter, we didn’t have good offensive possessions, and it got away from us.
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“They score seven points at the end when we are trying to sell out and see what happens, and it was a closer ball game than what the score shows. Both teams played hard today and both teams played well.”
Hillsboro (0-3, 1-8) opened with points from Karleigh Hopkins and Gracie Dean in the first frame, while Miami Trace had three points from Emma Pitstick in the early stages of the first quarter for a 4-3 lead by the Lady Indians.
The Lady Indians added two points from Jordan Moberly, and following a timeout, Hillsboro took a five-point lead with a steal and layup by Dean for a lead of 8-3 with 4:59 left in the opening quarter.
Hillsboro built their lead up to eight points with a 3-pointer from the corner of the court by Brynn Bledsoe, but MT responded with a basket from Libby Aleshire and a free-throw conversion from Shay McDonald cutting down the Hillsboro lead to 11-6. McDonald totaled nine points for MTHS.
The lead for HHS increased one last time in the first quarter with a second 3-pointer by Bledsoe with just 3.5 seconds left on the clock for the 14-6 score.
For the game, the Lady Indians were led by Dean, Karleigh Hopkins and Bledsoe with nine points each. Dean totaled three two-point baskets and a 3-pointer, while also adding two rebounds and one steal.
Karleigh Hopkins for the game had two two-point baskets, a 3-pointer and was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, along with seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Bledsoe made three 3-pointers for the game, while also collecting one rebound.
Miami Trace (3-1, 3-3) rallied in the second frame by winning the quarter, 18-8, and taking the lead with 1:46 left in the second frame off a layup by McDonald for a 24-22 lead. Before taking the lead, the Lady Panthers chipped away at the lead of HHS, including scoring seven straight points from the 3:50 mark until taking the advantage.
In the second, HHS had a 3-pointer from Hopkins and a 3-pointer by Dean, and Moberly scored two points as well. Miami Trace had 3-pointers by Aubrey McCoy, McDonald (two) and Hillary Jacobs — who totaled eight points — in their 18-point frame, which was a big factor in them taking the lead at halftime.
MTHS built a four-point lead twice early in the third quarter with a basket at the start of the frame by Magarah Bloom, and later a basket by Delaney Eakins left the score 28-24. Eakins led MTHS with 11 points for the game, breaking away in the fourth quarter with nine points.
Hillsboro’s Bledsoe made it a one-point deficit following a 3-pointer in front of her own bench at the 3:37 mark of the quarter for a 28-27 score. At the buzzer, the momentum went in favor of Miami Trace, where Jacobs sank a jumper while being fouled as the buzzer sounded. Jacobs made it a three-point play with a free-throw conversion for a 31-27 lead for the Lady Panthers.
MTHS held the Lady Indians to six points in the fourth frame, while they scored 13 points for the 11-point win.
“I didn’t do a good job of rotating people through and keeping legs fresh, and we were without Kayden Watson today,” Moberly said. “I needed to rotate some of the younger kids more, and I didn’t do a good job of that. As the game went on, we just didn’t have the legs to shoot it at that point.
“We had good effort and contributions from all the kids that played, just didn’t play enough kids.”
HHS in the fourth had points from Josie Hopkins, Dean and Karleigh Hopkins. Early in the fourth frame, HHS cut the MT lead to two points off a layup by Dean with 4:43 left in the frame for a score of 33-31.
From that point on, the Lady Panthers outscored HHS, 11-2 to end the game.
For HHS, other final scoring included Josie Hopkins with two points (seven rebounds, one steal) and Moberly with four points (three rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals). Also for HHS in the game, Mallory Parsons had two rebounds.
MTHS as a team totaled 42 rebounds in the game, while HHS had 30 rebounds.
Next for Hillsboro is a FAC game on Wednesday, Dec. 18 against the visiting Jackson Ironladies.
Nothing came easy for the visiting Lady Lady Panthers in the Frontier Athletic Conference showdown on Saturday afternoon, and that was the case in the first frame where Hillsboro held a 14-6 lead at the end of the opening eight minutes of action.
“I thought we played three good quarters and two really good quarters, but they made some adjustments in the second quarter against our zone. They made a couple shots, they hit five threes, so they shot better than what we thought they would coming in,” HHS head coach JR Moberly said. “In the fourth quarter, we didn’t have good offensive possessions, and it got away from us.
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“They score seven points at the end when we are trying to sell out and see what happens, and it was a closer ball game than what the score shows. Both teams played hard today and both teams played well.”
Hillsboro (0-3, 1-8) opened with points from Karleigh Hopkins and Gracie Dean in the first frame, while Miami Trace had three points from Emma Pitstick in the early stages of the first quarter for a 4-3 lead by the Lady Indians.
The Lady Indians added two points from Jordan Moberly, and following a timeout, Hillsboro took a five-point lead with a steal and layup by Dean for a lead of 8-3 with 4:59 left in the opening quarter.
Hillsboro built their lead up to eight points with a 3-pointer from the corner of the court by Brynn Bledsoe, but MT responded with a basket from Libby Aleshire and a free-throw conversion from Shay McDonald cutting down the Hillsboro lead to 11-6. McDonald totaled nine points for MTHS.
The lead for HHS increased one last time in the first quarter with a second 3-pointer by Bledsoe with just 3.5 seconds left on the clock for the 14-6 score.
For the game, the Lady Indians were led by Dean, Karleigh Hopkins and Bledsoe with nine points each. Dean totaled three two-point baskets and a 3-pointer, while also adding two rebounds and one steal.
Karleigh Hopkins for the game had two two-point baskets, a 3-pointer and was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, along with seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Bledsoe made three 3-pointers for the game, while also collecting one rebound.
Miami Trace (3-1, 3-3) rallied in the second frame by winning the quarter, 18-8, and taking the lead with 1:46 left in the second frame off a layup by McDonald for a 24-22 lead. Before taking the lead, the Lady Panthers chipped away at the lead of HHS, including scoring seven straight points from the 3:50 mark until taking the advantage.
In the second, HHS had a 3-pointer from Hopkins and a 3-pointer by Dean, and Moberly scored two points as well. Miami Trace had 3-pointers by Aubrey McCoy, McDonald (two) and Hillary Jacobs — who totaled eight points — in their 18-point frame, which was a big factor in them taking the lead at halftime.
MTHS built a four-point lead twice early in the third quarter with a basket at the start of the frame by Magarah Bloom, and later a basket by Delaney Eakins left the score 28-24. Eakins led MTHS with 11 points for the game, breaking away in the fourth quarter with nine points.
Hillsboro’s Bledsoe made it a one-point deficit following a 3-pointer in front of her own bench at the 3:37 mark of the quarter for a 28-27 score. At the buzzer, the momentum went in favor of Miami Trace, where Jacobs sank a jumper while being fouled as the buzzer sounded. Jacobs made it a three-point play with a free-throw conversion for a 31-27 lead for the Lady Panthers.
MTHS held the Lady Indians to six points in the fourth frame, while they scored 13 points for the 11-point win.
“I didn’t do a good job of rotating people through and keeping legs fresh, and we were without Kayden Watson today,” Moberly said. “I needed to rotate some of the younger kids more, and I didn’t do a good job of that. As the game went on, we just didn’t have the legs to shoot it at that point.
“We had good effort and contributions from all the kids that played, just didn’t play enough kids.”
HHS in the fourth had points from Josie Hopkins, Dean and Karleigh Hopkins. Early in the fourth frame, HHS cut the MT lead to two points off a layup by Dean with 4:43 left in the frame for a score of 33-31.
From that point on, the Lady Panthers outscored HHS, 11-2 to end the game.
For HHS, other final scoring included Josie Hopkins with two points (seven rebounds, one steal) and Moberly with four points (three rebounds, two assists, one block and two steals). Also for HHS in the game, Mallory Parsons had two rebounds.
MTHS as a team totaled 42 rebounds in the game, while HHS had 30 rebounds.
Next for Hillsboro is a FAC game on Wednesday, Dec. 18 against the visiting Jackson Ironladies.