Indians advance with close sectional victory

It came down to the final seconds, but the Hillsboro Indians ultimately prevailed on both sides of the basketball in their Division II SE District Sectional quarterfinal game to advance to the semifinal round.

By playing solid defense in the final seconds, they were able to fend off the No. 10 seeded Jackson Ironmen by a 42-41 score at Southeastern High School, Monday night to open their tournament.

No. 7 seeded Hillsboro improves to 8-15 overall on the season.

The Indians opened the game up quickly with a 6-2 lead, including points from Phillip Mycroft and Marshall Ward, with all their points coming inside the paint, but around the midway point of quarter, the Ironmen sank a 3-pointer to take the lead. Ward ended the game with nine points.

Hillsboro had none of that, with Mycroft (who totaled eight points) grabbing a rebound and scoring two points on a put-back opportunity for a lead of 8-7. That lead was extended to 10-7 with free throws made by Logan Kibler with around 2:50 left in the opening quarter. Kibler finished with eight points.

That three-point advantage didn’t last long with the Ironmen sinking a 3-pointer, but Kibler was there to push the Indians back in front with a two-point basket with around 2:00 left in the first. Ward followed later with two more points on a put-back chance for a four-point advantage for the Indians.

With the Indians leading 14-11 once the first frame came to a close, the first points scored in the second frame came off a put-back bucket by D.J. Brown around the 6:30 mark for a five-point HHS lead at 16-11.

Brown led the Indians with 15 points.

With both teams struggling to get in sync, the Ironmen responded with a two-point basket, but the Indians came back with a steal and fast break layup from Kibler on two straight possessions for a 20-13 advantage with just over 3:00 left in the first half.

Brown followed with a free-throw conversion for an eight-point lead, and with the quarter nearing the 2:00 mark, Brown scored two points on a layup while being fouled. Brown converted the three-point play by making the free throw to push the Indians’ lead to 24-13.

Mycroft continued to add to the HHS side of the scoreboard with two points to give the Indians double the points of their opponent, for a 26-13 score. That didn’t last long with the Ironmen sinking another 3-pointer, cutting the Indians’ lead to 10 points, and by the time the quarter came to a close, it was a 26-18 score in favor of the Indians.

Though the Indians had two turnovers to start the second half, Brown made the first field goal of the quarter with a jumper (offsetting a free throw by the Ironmen earlier in the third) only to see the Ironmen sink a trey.

Brown was there again to bail out the Tribe with a 3-pointer for the Indians, extending the lead of Hillsboro to 31-22. That lead went down to seven points off a put-back basket by JHS on the ensuing possession. Ward returned the favor with a jumper for the Indians, taking back the nine-point lead.

JHS answered with yet another 3-pointer, cutting the HHS lead to six points with around 2:30 left in the third frame, and for good measure, the Ironmen hit another 3-pointer for a 33-30 score, with HHS calling a timeout while holding onto a three-point lead.

Josh Keets entered the game (Brown was injured in the quarter) to make two free throws late in the third, extending the Tribe’s lead to five points, but that was answered with two points in the paint by Jackson, with the score staying at 35-32 at the end of three quarters as HHS was outscored 14-9 in the quarter.

Mycroft began the fourth by making 1-of-2 free throws, giving HHS a four-point lead, but the Ironmen were right there to answer with a three-point play, cutting the Indians’ advantage to one point at 36-35.

Jackson took the lead with a jumper, and the Indians were called for a travel on the ensuing possession, with the Indians calling a timeout while trailing for the first time in the game by a 37-36 score.

Following the timeout, JHS sank a 3-pointer to take a four-point lead at 40-36. The Indians then fouled the Ironmen as the quarter continued, and at the 4:33 mark on that trip to the line, they added one more point to their lead.

With under 4:00 left in the final frame, Ward sank a 3-pointer to make it a 41-39 score, and also following that shot with around 3:00 on the clock, Brown returned to action.

Mycroft was fouled on a put-back attempt, where he brought the Indians to within one point of JHS at 41-40, later followed by a timeout called with 2:22 left in the fourth.

Following another timeout, Brown made a clutch block, and with under 2:00 left in regulation, the Indians regained possession of the ball, where Brown was eventually fouled in the paint to get to the free-throw line. Brown tied the score by making his first free throw, then put HHS in the lead at 42-41 by sinking the second free throw.

After the Ironmen regained possession of the ball following the free throws, they eventually called a timeout with 18.1 left in regulation.

HHS fouled JHS twice, leaving 11 seconds left in regulation, only to see the Indians’ defense keep the Ironmen from scoring the game-winner, advancing to the sectional semifinals.

The win for HHS moves them to the aforementioned semifinals on Wednesday, Feb. 17, where they will face the No. 2 seeded Washington Blue Lions at 8 p.m. at SEHS. HHS lost both meetings with the Blue Lions during the regular season in South Central Ohio League play.

(Thank you to Buckeye Country 105.5 FM for contributing to the article.)