Indians defeat Blue Lions for 3rd time this season; advance to sectional finals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CHILLICOTHE — This year, it was the Hillsboro Indians advancing in the Division II SE District Sectional Semifinals, as the Tribe returned the favor from two seasons ago and continued their winning ways by defeating the Washington Blue Lions 58-52, topping Washington for a third time this season Tuesday night at Southeastern High School.
Earlier this season, the Frontier Athletic Conference rivals played each other on Dec. 8, 2017 at WCH and on Feb. 12, 2018 at Hillsboro, with the Indians winning both games by scores of 71-66 and 63-52, respectively.
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“We’re extremely thrilled with getting this victory,” Hillsboro head coach Bruce Miles said. “It’s always tough to beat a team three times in a season. Shannon [Bartruff]’s team is banged up and short some guys, so give him a lot of credit, his guys fought and fought the entire game, which we knew they would. That’s a credit to Shannon and his program. We’re thrilled to be able to advance in this tournament.”
In the opening quarter of this third meeting, the Indians and Blue Lions combined for just 15 points, with the Tribe leading by a 10-5 score.
The Indians (8-15) opened the first frame with six straight points as Phillip Mycroft scored the first points of the game, followed by points by Ethan Watson for the early 6-0 advantage with 3:08 left in the first frame. Watson finished the game with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Mycroft followed with 20 points and seven rebounds.
“Ethan Watson stepped up huge in that fourth quarter,” Miles said. “He put the team on his back, so to speak, and he got to the basket, handled it well and made some huge free throws down the stretch. He’s an upperclassman, a guy that’s been here before, so we expect that out of him and he did his job.
“Phil Mycroft was huge all night. We have an advantage down there, and that was the name of the game for us, getting the ball to the post and feeding our big guy. He did a great job of finishing at the rim tonight.”
Blaise Tayese scored Washington’s first points of the game with a jumper, only to be answered with two straight baskets by Mycroft. Washington capped off the first-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer by Evan Upthegrove with 38 seconds left in the frame. Upthegrove totaled 17 points in the loss, finishing with three 3-pointers.
Upthegrove opened the second frame with a 3-pointer for Washington, but Hillsboro came back with a layup by Mycroft and a three-point play from Watson for a 15-8 lead with 6:44 on the clock. The Blue Lions came back with four straight points from Eli Lynch and Tayese to get to within three points of the Hillsboro lead with 4:50 still on the second-quarter clock.
At the 3:50 mark, the Tribe had a 3-pointer from Hayden Haines, who totaled nine points and three rebounds. A few moments later, Watson made a steal and made a fast break to the hoop for two points, increasing the Indians’ lead to 20-12.
Washington came back with a jumper at the 3:14 mark of the second frame, but the Indians had more answers, this time with Haines again contributing to the scoring with 2:57 left in the quarter. The Blue Lions finished their second-quarter scoring with two free throws by Tayese, but the Tribe had four more points of scoring left with points in the paint by Mycroft and Watson for a 26-16 halftime lead.
Holding a halftime lead of 10 points to start the third frame, the Indians began the second half with points from Jakwon Clark, but like in the first half, it was Washington having an answer with a 3-pointer from Upthegrove.
“Jakwon Clark did a great job,” Miles said. “He had a bad turnover late, but he responded. He got some big rebounds.
“Hayden Haines off the bench played great for us. He does so many good things, he’s athletic, he shoots it well. We’re really looking forward to good things from him when he puts some weight on and gets stronger. He will because he has a great work ethic.”
Following the Blue Lions’ points, the Indians had another two points by Mycroft, and after a free throw made by Lynch of the Blue Lions, they trailed once again by 10 points.
Later in the third frame, the Blue Lions went on an 8-0 run in a span of 47 seconds with Upthegrove sinking a 3-pointer, Dillon Steward having a three-point play and two free-throw conversions by Tayese cutting the Hillsboro lead to three points at 31-28 and forcing the Indians to call a 30-second timeout at the 4:03 mark of the third.
Following the break in play, the Indians and Blue Lions exchanged a number of baskets, including a trey by Steward of the Blue Lions. Steward led the Blue Lions with 19 points, finishing with four 3-pointers, and Tayese finished with 10 points.
The Indians got back in control with consecutive points by Clark and Mycroft for 40-33 lead with 1:04 still on the third-quarter clock.
The score stayed 40-33 by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, but the Indians made it a 10-point advantage to start the frame with a 3-pointer by Mason Swayne. The Blue Lions made the quarter much more interesting with 3-pointers from Steward and Ross Matthews Jr., eventually cutting the Indians’ lead to just three points at 46-43 with 3:35 left in regulation.
Later in the final quarter, Mycroft propelled the Indians’ lead to 50-45 with 2:06 left in the fourth, only to see the Blue Lions cut the lead back to three points again off a basket by Tayese. HHS increased their lead to five points at the 1:19 mark with Watson scoring points in the paint for a 52-47 score.
In the final minute of regulation, Washington cut the HHS lead to two points with a 3-pointer by Steward at the 20.3 mark to make it a 54-52 score. The Indians scored the final four points in the game with four straight free throws by Watson for the six-point win.
Hillsboro will now be facing No. 1 seeded Fairland on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., as the Indians will be going for their 12th sectional title in school history and first since 2009. Their most recent sectional championship game played was in 2013.
“It’s a huge challenge in front of us,” Miles said. “Our kids are really excited about that challenge. We’ve got a number of days here to prepare for that team, a team that made it to the Division III state tournament last year and has every guy back. We’re excited, and we’re going to go in the gym tomorrow and prepare ourselves.”
Earlier this season, the Frontier Athletic Conference rivals played each other on Dec. 8, 2017 at WCH and on Feb. 12, 2018 at Hillsboro, with the Indians winning both games by scores of 71-66 and 63-52, respectively.
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“We’re extremely thrilled with getting this victory,” Hillsboro head coach Bruce Miles said. “It’s always tough to beat a team three times in a season. Shannon [Bartruff]’s team is banged up and short some guys, so give him a lot of credit, his guys fought and fought the entire game, which we knew they would. That’s a credit to Shannon and his program. We’re thrilled to be able to advance in this tournament.”
In the opening quarter of this third meeting, the Indians and Blue Lions combined for just 15 points, with the Tribe leading by a 10-5 score.
The Indians (8-15) opened the first frame with six straight points as Phillip Mycroft scored the first points of the game, followed by points by Ethan Watson for the early 6-0 advantage with 3:08 left in the first frame. Watson finished the game with 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Mycroft followed with 20 points and seven rebounds.
“Ethan Watson stepped up huge in that fourth quarter,” Miles said. “He put the team on his back, so to speak, and he got to the basket, handled it well and made some huge free throws down the stretch. He’s an upperclassman, a guy that’s been here before, so we expect that out of him and he did his job.
“Phil Mycroft was huge all night. We have an advantage down there, and that was the name of the game for us, getting the ball to the post and feeding our big guy. He did a great job of finishing at the rim tonight.”
Blaise Tayese scored Washington’s first points of the game with a jumper, only to be answered with two straight baskets by Mycroft. Washington capped off the first-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer by Evan Upthegrove with 38 seconds left in the frame. Upthegrove totaled 17 points in the loss, finishing with three 3-pointers.
Upthegrove opened the second frame with a 3-pointer for Washington, but Hillsboro came back with a layup by Mycroft and a three-point play from Watson for a 15-8 lead with 6:44 on the clock. The Blue Lions came back with four straight points from Eli Lynch and Tayese to get to within three points of the Hillsboro lead with 4:50 still on the second-quarter clock.
At the 3:50 mark, the Tribe had a 3-pointer from Hayden Haines, who totaled nine points and three rebounds. A few moments later, Watson made a steal and made a fast break to the hoop for two points, increasing the Indians’ lead to 20-12.
Washington came back with a jumper at the 3:14 mark of the second frame, but the Indians had more answers, this time with Haines again contributing to the scoring with 2:57 left in the quarter. The Blue Lions finished their second-quarter scoring with two free throws by Tayese, but the Tribe had four more points of scoring left with points in the paint by Mycroft and Watson for a 26-16 halftime lead.
Holding a halftime lead of 10 points to start the third frame, the Indians began the second half with points from Jakwon Clark, but like in the first half, it was Washington having an answer with a 3-pointer from Upthegrove.
“Jakwon Clark did a great job,” Miles said. “He had a bad turnover late, but he responded. He got some big rebounds.
“Hayden Haines off the bench played great for us. He does so many good things, he’s athletic, he shoots it well. We’re really looking forward to good things from him when he puts some weight on and gets stronger. He will because he has a great work ethic.”
Following the Blue Lions’ points, the Indians had another two points by Mycroft, and after a free throw made by Lynch of the Blue Lions, they trailed once again by 10 points.
Later in the third frame, the Blue Lions went on an 8-0 run in a span of 47 seconds with Upthegrove sinking a 3-pointer, Dillon Steward having a three-point play and two free-throw conversions by Tayese cutting the Hillsboro lead to three points at 31-28 and forcing the Indians to call a 30-second timeout at the 4:03 mark of the third.
Following the break in play, the Indians and Blue Lions exchanged a number of baskets, including a trey by Steward of the Blue Lions. Steward led the Blue Lions with 19 points, finishing with four 3-pointers, and Tayese finished with 10 points.
The Indians got back in control with consecutive points by Clark and Mycroft for 40-33 lead with 1:04 still on the third-quarter clock.
The score stayed 40-33 by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, but the Indians made it a 10-point advantage to start the frame with a 3-pointer by Mason Swayne. The Blue Lions made the quarter much more interesting with 3-pointers from Steward and Ross Matthews Jr., eventually cutting the Indians’ lead to just three points at 46-43 with 3:35 left in regulation.
Later in the final quarter, Mycroft propelled the Indians’ lead to 50-45 with 2:06 left in the fourth, only to see the Blue Lions cut the lead back to three points again off a basket by Tayese. HHS increased their lead to five points at the 1:19 mark with Watson scoring points in the paint for a 52-47 score.
In the final minute of regulation, Washington cut the HHS lead to two points with a 3-pointer by Steward at the 20.3 mark to make it a 54-52 score. The Indians scored the final four points in the game with four straight free throws by Watson for the six-point win.
Hillsboro will now be facing No. 1 seeded Fairland on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., as the Indians will be going for their 12th sectional title in school history and first since 2009. Their most recent sectional championship game played was in 2013.
“It’s a huge challenge in front of us,” Miles said. “Our kids are really excited about that challenge. We’ve got a number of days here to prepare for that team, a team that made it to the Division III state tournament last year and has every guy back. We’re excited, and we’re going to go in the gym tomorrow and prepare ourselves.”