Indians hold off hard-charging Tigers to sweep season series

At halftime and for most of the third frame, the Hillsboro Indians held a double-figure lead over visiting rival McClain in their South Central Ohio League battle at Hillsboro High School.

The atmosphere was as loud as it has been all season inside the gym of the Indians, and with all of that against them, the Tigers managed to make a comeback and take the lead in the fourth frame. But the Indians didn’t bow out … instead, a 3-pointer by Logan Kibler with 1:44 left in the final quarter changed the momentum back to the Indians.

After all the excitement and lead changes in the final quarter, it was the Indians who earned a season sweep over their Highland County counterpart and rival, as they defeated the Tigers, 56-53.

In their first meeting in Greenfield, the Indians won with a great fourth-quarter effort, then winning very late in the fourth quarter by a score that was even closer at 54-53.

“I have to give credit to McClain, they could have easily closed up shop, but they didn’t, and they fought and fought, and we were fortunate enough to hold on,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “In high school basketball and this rivalry … that’s what it is all about, our fans tonight. I can’t say enough about our student section and fans, they were tremendous.

“We fed off the crowd early, and we were able to jump out to a big lead, and we were fortunate enough to hang on at the end.”

The big lead Miles was speaking of came in the first half, as HHS led 17-5 at the end of the first quarter, and with 5:39 left in the second quarter, the Indians had built a 22-8 lead following points by Matthew Ryan. Ryan totaled 13 points in the win.

By the time halftime arrived, the Tigers chipped away at the Indians’ advantage to get to within 11 points of HHS, as the Indians led 29-18 at halftime. For MHS in the first half, Alex Hollar scored seven points, including a 3-pointer. All of his points were in the second frame, as MHS outscored the Indians, 13-12.

“We just can’t come out flat,” McClain head coach Jesse Mitchell said. “We challenged the guys at halftime and they responded, we just came up short at the end.

“Usually it is opposite, where we come out and play strong in the first half and not so well in the second half.”

Then came the second half where things got really interesting for both teams in front of two motivated fan bases and student sections who were geared for the game from tip-off to the final buzzer.

McClain began the third with a free throw from Randall Mischal 20 seconds into the quarter. Kibler answered with a 3-pointer for the Tribe, but after getting into foul trouble in the first half, McClain’s Jacob Starkey scored four straight points in the third to get the Tigers back to within nine points of the Indians with two baskets in the paint. Starkey totaled eight points.

Kibler led the Indians with 15 points.

Phillip Mycroft put the Indians ahead by 11 points with a basket, but Mischal sank a 3-pointer with 4:24 left in the quarter, cutting the Indians’ lead to eight points. Mycroft ended the game with eight points.

The lead then went to six points as the Tigers gained two points on a put-back bucket by Zach Peck. Peck finished the game with 10 points.

HHS ended the third with a 6-3 scoring differential, beginning with a jumper by Kibler and a layup from Marshall Ward. McClain came back with a 3-pointer by Mat Barton, but the final points of the quarter came with a layup by Mycroft for a 40-31 advantage headed into the fourth quarter.

Barton led the Tigers with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Ward finished with 11 points, including going 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Hillsboro extended their lead to start the final quarter with a free throw from Ryan, but MHS scored four straight points, including two free throws by Barton and a layup while being fouled by Peck to make it a six-point differential at 41-35.

Later, after the two teams exchanged more points, the Tigers got to within three points of the Indians’ lead following a layup by Cody Hardesty and 3-pointer by Barton with 4:32 left in regulation, as MHS made it a 43-40 score.

McClain later made it a one-point game with a put-back bucket from Starkey, though the Indians answered with two free throws by Ryan with 3:47 and a score of 45-42 in favor of the Indians on the scoreboard.

Peck brought the Tigers back to within one point of the Indians with a layup at the 3:17 mark of the fourth, and with 2:51 on the clock, he made an underhanded layup in the paint, pushing the Tigers in the lead for the first time in the SCOL showdown at 46-45.

D.J. Brown, who totaled seven points, came back with two points to give the Indians the advantage, but McClain answered with two free throws by Barton for a 48-47 Tigers advantage with 2:04 left in the fourth. Barton finished the final quarter 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.

Hillsboro used the momentum from their fans, and Kibler made them erupt into cheers with a clutch 3-pointer with 1:44 left in regulation to push the Indians ahead, 50-48.

Then Hillsboro’s defense took over, with pressure from Ward and Ryan, as both players stole the ball around half court and went on to score fast break points, taking the Indians to a six-point lead at 54-48 with less than 50 seconds left in regulation.

McClain still didn’t fold, as Barton made yet another 3-pointer, this one to cut the Indians’ lead in half at 54-51 at the 36-second mark of the fourth. HHS answered later with two free-throw conversions from Ward, and the final McClain points came off a layup by Peck. McClain outscored Hillsboro, 22-16 in the fourth quarter.

“We were able to get the ball inside to our bigs, that’s our strength, and I thought Matthew Ryan and Marshall Ward did well,” Miles said. “Marshall set up guys and got to the basket … I thought this was one of his better games. He came up in a big spot for us (Friday).”

In JV play, the Indians defeated the Tigers, 38-28. Leading HHS was Ty Haithcock and Colin Bullock with nine points each. MHS was led by Landree Gray with 11 points.

The freshman game saw HHS win by a 35-28 score against MHS. Ethan Watson led HHS with 19 points, and leading McClain was Trevor Tite with seven points.

HHS will play again on Tuesday, Feb. 9 vs. the Eastern Brown Warriors in non-league play. The Tigers play again on Monday, Feb. 8 vs. Clinton-Massie in SCOL action.