Indians open season with tough loss to Wilmington
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The second game of the Ohio Valley Hoops Classic saw the Hillsboro Indians struggle to score points in the second half against the visiting Wilmington Hurricane by a 52-31 score, as the former league rivals squared off to open the 2018-19 season.
Wilmington’s defense was stingy in the second half, as the Indians were held to eight points in the final two quarters, including seven points in the third and one point in the fourth.
“The first two minutes of the second half, we had numerous turnovers that led to easy buckets for [Wilmington], and it was a snowball effect,” Hillsboro head coach Bruce Miles said. “They made a couple shots, and we got our heads down. It seemed like everything went their way, and we couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half.
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“A lot of the shots were rushed. When you’re down by that score, you try to get that 15-point shot, and they don’t offer that. We talked to them about one possession at a time, grinding and moving the ball, and I thought the second half we did a real poor job of moving the basketball. Some guys were trying to do too much.”
Wilmington was led by Cameron Cooper with 17 points (two 3-pointers), while Steven Sweeney and Chris Curtis each had 10 points.
The first half was a better outcome for the Indians as they trailed by just a single point at the completion of the first quarter by a 13-12 score. In the opening frame, the Indians tied the score at 2-2 with free throws by Luke Magulac one minute into the contest.
Later, the Indians took a 5-4 advantage with a 3-pointer from Ryan Scott at the 5:41 mark of the first, followed by points by Brad Miller and a 3-pointer from Jakwon Clark with 4:00 to go in the first for a 10-4 advantage. Miller finished the game with a team-high 11 points, and Scott followed with seven points.
Wilmington powered back to outscore the Indians 6-2 in the final 3:03 of the first to take a 13-12 advantage.
Both teams scored 11 points in the second quarter, and HHS regained the lead with a layup under pressure by Mason Swayne, followed by a 3-pointer by Swayne as well for a 17-14 HHS lead. Swayne finished with six points.
Miller added two points in the paint to increase the Indians’ advantage to 19-15 with 4:55 left in the quarter.
Following a layup by the ’Cane, the Indians responded with a layup by Miller and two made free throws by Scott at the 3:22 mark of the second for a 23-17 lead.
Again, the ’Cane responded with a fury of scoring as they outscored the Indians, 7-0 in the final 3:08 of the second quarter for a 24-23 advantage at halftime.
The Indians didn’t have the same spark defensively in the second half as they did in the first two quarters, as Wilmington scored 18 points in the third, while the Indians added seven points to their total for a 42-30 deficit once the third quarter came to a close.
For HHS in the third, they scored their first points of the third with a basket at the 6:08 mark of the quarter when Miller brought HHS back to within two points of WHS at 27-25. Later, following points by WHS, the Indians were back to within two points of the ’Cane, and that feat occurred yet again with 4:32 left in the quarter as Miller sank a basket for a 30-29 deficit.
Wilmington eventually built their lead to 35-29, then outscored the Indians, 8-1 in the final 3:17 of the frame for a 42-30 score.
The fourth frame had just one point by the Indians, coming from a free throw by Swayne with 5:36 left in the quarter. The Indians went the final 12:33 of the game without a field goal. In the fourth, WHS outscored the Indians, 10-1.
“We knew it was going to be a heck of a challenge with Wilmington’s program, and I thought the first half we did a lot of nice things, got in there under control, we finished,” Miles said. “The second half, I told them in the locker room — if we’re not scoring, it doesn’t matter if we can’t stop the other guys.
“I was really disappointed a couple possessions there late where guys were really, I thought, kind of down on themselves and not doing the fundamental things we preach every day, and they got a couple of easy buckets right there at the rim where we put up no defense. That was the disappointing thing for me.”
Hillsboro will be back on the court Saturday evening as they are scheduled to face the Maysville St. Patrick Saints (Ky,) at HHS with a start time of 6:40 p.m. on Day 2 of the Ohio Valley Hoops Classic.
“I told them the good thing about it is the sun will rise tomorrow and we get to play in front of our home fans again and get to play a St. Patrick team from Maysville, Kentucky, and we’re excited to be able to get things turned around quickly. I actually got to go down and scout them. They opened their season on Monday.
“They’ve got some youth. In Kentucky, they can play junior high kids, and we’re going to see some junior high kids tomorrow. They’re going to be ready to go. We have to come down and play much better. The first half, I thought we did good things. The second half was really, extremely disappointing. We’ll be ready to go. I already told them, we’ll forget this one and move on to the next one.”
The schedule for Saturday’s games on Dec. 1 at Hillsboro High School are:
• Xenia vs. Walton Verona (Ky.), noon
• Moeller vs. Lexington Bryan Station (Ky.), 1:40 p.m.
• Blanchester vs. Beechwood (Ky.), 3:20 p.m.
• Campbell County (Ky.) vs. Walnut Ridge, 5 p.m.
• Hillsboro vs. Maysville St. Patrick (Ky.), 6:40 p.m.
• Mason vs. Sidney, 8:10 p.m.
Wilmington’s defense was stingy in the second half, as the Indians were held to eight points in the final two quarters, including seven points in the third and one point in the fourth.
“The first two minutes of the second half, we had numerous turnovers that led to easy buckets for [Wilmington], and it was a snowball effect,” Hillsboro head coach Bruce Miles said. “They made a couple shots, and we got our heads down. It seemed like everything went their way, and we couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half.
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“A lot of the shots were rushed. When you’re down by that score, you try to get that 15-point shot, and they don’t offer that. We talked to them about one possession at a time, grinding and moving the ball, and I thought the second half we did a real poor job of moving the basketball. Some guys were trying to do too much.”
Wilmington was led by Cameron Cooper with 17 points (two 3-pointers), while Steven Sweeney and Chris Curtis each had 10 points.
The first half was a better outcome for the Indians as they trailed by just a single point at the completion of the first quarter by a 13-12 score. In the opening frame, the Indians tied the score at 2-2 with free throws by Luke Magulac one minute into the contest.
Later, the Indians took a 5-4 advantage with a 3-pointer from Ryan Scott at the 5:41 mark of the first, followed by points by Brad Miller and a 3-pointer from Jakwon Clark with 4:00 to go in the first for a 10-4 advantage. Miller finished the game with a team-high 11 points, and Scott followed with seven points.
Wilmington powered back to outscore the Indians 6-2 in the final 3:03 of the first to take a 13-12 advantage.
Both teams scored 11 points in the second quarter, and HHS regained the lead with a layup under pressure by Mason Swayne, followed by a 3-pointer by Swayne as well for a 17-14 HHS lead. Swayne finished with six points.
Miller added two points in the paint to increase the Indians’ advantage to 19-15 with 4:55 left in the quarter.
Following a layup by the ’Cane, the Indians responded with a layup by Miller and two made free throws by Scott at the 3:22 mark of the second for a 23-17 lead.
Again, the ’Cane responded with a fury of scoring as they outscored the Indians, 7-0 in the final 3:08 of the second quarter for a 24-23 advantage at halftime.
The Indians didn’t have the same spark defensively in the second half as they did in the first two quarters, as Wilmington scored 18 points in the third, while the Indians added seven points to their total for a 42-30 deficit once the third quarter came to a close.
For HHS in the third, they scored their first points of the third with a basket at the 6:08 mark of the quarter when Miller brought HHS back to within two points of WHS at 27-25. Later, following points by WHS, the Indians were back to within two points of the ’Cane, and that feat occurred yet again with 4:32 left in the quarter as Miller sank a basket for a 30-29 deficit.
Wilmington eventually built their lead to 35-29, then outscored the Indians, 8-1 in the final 3:17 of the frame for a 42-30 score.
The fourth frame had just one point by the Indians, coming from a free throw by Swayne with 5:36 left in the quarter. The Indians went the final 12:33 of the game without a field goal. In the fourth, WHS outscored the Indians, 10-1.
“We knew it was going to be a heck of a challenge with Wilmington’s program, and I thought the first half we did a lot of nice things, got in there under control, we finished,” Miles said. “The second half, I told them in the locker room — if we’re not scoring, it doesn’t matter if we can’t stop the other guys.
“I was really disappointed a couple possessions there late where guys were really, I thought, kind of down on themselves and not doing the fundamental things we preach every day, and they got a couple of easy buckets right there at the rim where we put up no defense. That was the disappointing thing for me.”
Hillsboro will be back on the court Saturday evening as they are scheduled to face the Maysville St. Patrick Saints (Ky,) at HHS with a start time of 6:40 p.m. on Day 2 of the Ohio Valley Hoops Classic.
“I told them the good thing about it is the sun will rise tomorrow and we get to play in front of our home fans again and get to play a St. Patrick team from Maysville, Kentucky, and we’re excited to be able to get things turned around quickly. I actually got to go down and scout them. They opened their season on Monday.
“They’ve got some youth. In Kentucky, they can play junior high kids, and we’re going to see some junior high kids tomorrow. They’re going to be ready to go. We have to come down and play much better. The first half, I thought we did good things. The second half was really, extremely disappointing. We’ll be ready to go. I already told them, we’ll forget this one and move on to the next one.”
The schedule for Saturday’s games on Dec. 1 at Hillsboro High School are:
• Xenia vs. Walton Verona (Ky.), noon
• Moeller vs. Lexington Bryan Station (Ky.), 1:40 p.m.
• Blanchester vs. Beechwood (Ky.), 3:20 p.m.
• Campbell County (Ky.) vs. Walnut Ridge, 5 p.m.
• Hillsboro vs. Maysville St. Patrick (Ky.), 6:40 p.m.
• Mason vs. Sidney, 8:10 p.m.