Indians fend off Eastern Warriors in season opener
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Defense is what propelled the Hillsboro Indians to a season-opening victory on Thursday night against the Eastern Brown Warriors, with the Indians fending off the visitors, 60-54 at Hillsboro High School.
The Indians (1-0) began their season by using their defense to keep the Warriors under the 60-point mark, but also at times turned their defensive prowess into fast break opportunities for points on the offensive side.
“I told the guys at the beginning of the year we had to change the way we do things and focus on the defensive end,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said following the win. “I couldn’t be more proud of our defensive effort tonight. We did a lot of good things on that end. It paid off on the scoreboard.”
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That was evident early in the game where the Indians led by a 14-8 score after the conclusion of the first quarter, with the Tribe beginning the game with two points off a fast break by Phillip Mycroft with the pass by Jakwon Clark for the early lead. Later, Clark — who finished with 11 points — made it 4-0 off a jumper, and eventually with 3:38 left in the opening frame Ethan Watson sank a 3-pointer at the 3:38 mark for a 7-1 advantage.
Watson led the Indians with 14 points, but HHS had balanced scoring all-around with a total of six players reaching the scoring column and four of those players in double figures.
Later, that lead increased to 10-4 with a three-point play by Mycroft, but four points from Eastern’s Titus Burns — who led the team with 13 points — brought the Warriors back to within two points of tying the score. The Indians had an answer, though, with Josh Keets and Watson sinking buckets for the 14-8 first-quarter advantage. Keets finished with 13 points.
The Indians opened the second quarter with six straight points off points in the paint by Marshall Ward, Mason Swayne and Keets for a 20-8 advantage with 5:50 left in the quarter. Ward finished with four points.
Eastern came back with six straight points for a 20-14 score with around 3:14 left in the first half, only to see a jumper by Clark break up the run by Eastern. The Warriors answered with a layup off an inbounds pass and a jumper at the 1:22 mark of the second frame to complete all scoring for the quarter, leaving the Indians ahead by four points at 22-18.
In the final two frames, the Indians outscored the Warriors, 38-36 with HHS scoring 22 points in the third and 16 in the fourth. The Warriors (0-1) had a 17-point third quarter, and 19 points were added in the final frame.
The Indians built an eight-point advantage with 5:57 left in the third off points from Keets (two free throws and a layup), a free throw and layup from Watson and a layup by Clark.
Hillsboro continued the third with fast break points by Mycroft (with the assist from Ward, who left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury) and a 3-pointer by Clark for a 38-27 advantage with 3:22 remaining in the third. Eastern followed up with six straight points by Colton Vaughn to get back to within five points of the Indians with the clock reading 1:55. Vaughn and teammates Hunter Ruckel and Marcus Hamilton each scored 10 points.
HHS ended the third by outscoring the Warriors, 6-1 in a span of 1:51 with a layup by Mycroft (who totaled 12 points), a 3-pointer from Watson and a free throw by Keets for a 44-35 lead at the end of third frame.
As for the final frame, the Indians never lost the lead, and they were able to fend off the Warriors, who got to within three points of the lead with 3:13 and one point of tying the score at 51-50 with 2:54 on the clock.
That was as close as the Warriors got with Mycroft scoring points on a put-back bucket and free throw after being fouled on the basket. Ten seconds later, Swayne was at the free-throw line, making one basket for a 55-50 HHS lead. Swayne totaled six points for the Indians.
“The fight in these guys – we were in a lot of situations last year where we had leads and lost them at the end of the game,” Miles said. “I gave them a couple timeouts to talk about things, and they all focused on little things. Every possession matters. We took care of the basketball when we needed to, and we made free throws when we needed to, although we didn’t shoot well the entire game.”
From that point on, the Indians’ scoring came via free throws, with Swayne making three more and Watson making one.
Next, the Indians will begin Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) play on Saturday night when they play the McClain Tigers at the Southern State Patriot Center in the Ohio Valley Hoops Classic. The game is scheduled to start at 9 p.m.
The Indians (1-0) began their season by using their defense to keep the Warriors under the 60-point mark, but also at times turned their defensive prowess into fast break opportunities for points on the offensive side.
“I told the guys at the beginning of the year we had to change the way we do things and focus on the defensive end,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said following the win. “I couldn’t be more proud of our defensive effort tonight. We did a lot of good things on that end. It paid off on the scoreboard.”
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That was evident early in the game where the Indians led by a 14-8 score after the conclusion of the first quarter, with the Tribe beginning the game with two points off a fast break by Phillip Mycroft with the pass by Jakwon Clark for the early lead. Later, Clark — who finished with 11 points — made it 4-0 off a jumper, and eventually with 3:38 left in the opening frame Ethan Watson sank a 3-pointer at the 3:38 mark for a 7-1 advantage.
Watson led the Indians with 14 points, but HHS had balanced scoring all-around with a total of six players reaching the scoring column and four of those players in double figures.
Later, that lead increased to 10-4 with a three-point play by Mycroft, but four points from Eastern’s Titus Burns — who led the team with 13 points — brought the Warriors back to within two points of tying the score. The Indians had an answer, though, with Josh Keets and Watson sinking buckets for the 14-8 first-quarter advantage. Keets finished with 13 points.
The Indians opened the second quarter with six straight points off points in the paint by Marshall Ward, Mason Swayne and Keets for a 20-8 advantage with 5:50 left in the quarter. Ward finished with four points.
Eastern came back with six straight points for a 20-14 score with around 3:14 left in the first half, only to see a jumper by Clark break up the run by Eastern. The Warriors answered with a layup off an inbounds pass and a jumper at the 1:22 mark of the second frame to complete all scoring for the quarter, leaving the Indians ahead by four points at 22-18.
In the final two frames, the Indians outscored the Warriors, 38-36 with HHS scoring 22 points in the third and 16 in the fourth. The Warriors (0-1) had a 17-point third quarter, and 19 points were added in the final frame.
The Indians built an eight-point advantage with 5:57 left in the third off points from Keets (two free throws and a layup), a free throw and layup from Watson and a layup by Clark.
Hillsboro continued the third with fast break points by Mycroft (with the assist from Ward, who left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury) and a 3-pointer by Clark for a 38-27 advantage with 3:22 remaining in the third. Eastern followed up with six straight points by Colton Vaughn to get back to within five points of the Indians with the clock reading 1:55. Vaughn and teammates Hunter Ruckel and Marcus Hamilton each scored 10 points.
HHS ended the third by outscoring the Warriors, 6-1 in a span of 1:51 with a layup by Mycroft (who totaled 12 points), a 3-pointer from Watson and a free throw by Keets for a 44-35 lead at the end of third frame.
As for the final frame, the Indians never lost the lead, and they were able to fend off the Warriors, who got to within three points of the lead with 3:13 and one point of tying the score at 51-50 with 2:54 on the clock.
That was as close as the Warriors got with Mycroft scoring points on a put-back bucket and free throw after being fouled on the basket. Ten seconds later, Swayne was at the free-throw line, making one basket for a 55-50 HHS lead. Swayne totaled six points for the Indians.
“The fight in these guys – we were in a lot of situations last year where we had leads and lost them at the end of the game,” Miles said. “I gave them a couple timeouts to talk about things, and they all focused on little things. Every possession matters. We took care of the basketball when we needed to, and we made free throws when we needed to, although we didn’t shoot well the entire game.”
From that point on, the Indians’ scoring came via free throws, with Swayne making three more and Watson making one.
Next, the Indians will begin Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) play on Saturday night when they play the McClain Tigers at the Southern State Patriot Center in the Ohio Valley Hoops Classic. The game is scheduled to start at 9 p.m.