Indians suffer 1st loss of season; fall to Batavia
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Hillsboro Indians were handed their first loss of the season in a bit of stunning fashion on Saturday night. After completing all aspects of their non-conference game against the visiting Batavia Bulldogs in the first quarter, the next three frames were nowhere near as spotless for the Indians, resulting in losing a 17-point lead and eventually losing the game by a 61-56 score.
Hillsboro dominated the first frame, beginning the game with an 11-0 run with 3:10 left in the opening quarter. From there, they built that lead to a 17-point advantage with a 19-2 score at the 1:41 mark of the quarter and eventually led by a 21-6 score after the opening eight minutes had expired.
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In the ensuing eight minutes, all of the Indians’ momentum and their double-digit lead expired too, as the home team went from having a 15-point lead after eight minutes to trailing by one point after 16 minutes with Batavia taking a 26-25 lead at halftime.
As for that first frame, the Indians built their initial 11-0 run with points from Phillip Mycroft, Josh Keets, Jakwon Clark and Ethan Watson. After two points from the Bulldogs, the Indians came back with a jumper by Keets and two points on a fast break from Watson for a 15-2 lead with 2:30 left on the clock. Watson finished with 12 points.
Following a timeout, the Indians added points from Mycroft (who totaled 13 points) and Watson for the aforementioned 17-point lead. Watson scored the final HHS points of the quarter with a layup, eventually leading by a 21-6 score.
The complete opposite occurred in the second frame with the Indians being outscored 20-5, as the Bulldogs opened the frame with a 7-0 run with 4:08 left in the quarter and eventually cut the HHS lead to a single point following a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in the second. The Bulldogs took the lead with the final points of the half off two free throws.
“There was really poor effort on our part after the first quarter,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “It was very disappointing. We did not play well at all for three quarters. I talked to the guys about how we can’t just pick and choose and flip a switch. That’s not how we’re built. I felt like there were times we built a lead there in the third quarter and it’s like hey, we’re back to the comfort zone. We can’t do that against basketball teams, and it caught up to us.
“I hate to see how many turnovers we had. We were careless with the basketball (Saturday). We just didn’t do a good job of being patient. We told them we had to be patient against the zone. I thought we did a lot of dribbling against the zone in the first half, and we did a little bit better job in the second half of moving the zone with the ball and getting it to Josh in the high post.
“The bottom line at the end of the night is it was the defensive end that hurt us. [Batavia's] kids got hot and made a few threes. We had some bad rotations, and we weren’t able to contest them.”
HHS (4-1) came out quick in the third with points from Keets and Clark to regain the lead at 29-26 with 6:48 left in the quarter. Keets led HHS with 16 points and Clark finished with eight points.
Batavia answered with a 3-pointer, but the Indians came back with a 3-pointer from Watson and a layup by Mason Swayne for a 34-29 advantage. Swayne finished with seven points.
HHS remained in control of the third frame, ending it with a 12-point lead, outscoring the visiting Bulldogs, 25-12.
Like in the second frame, the Indians had trouble with an even-numbered quarter, with the Bulldogs taking advantage of the Indians’ miscues, eventually tying the score at 53 by beginning a 13-3 run for the third score with 2:40 on the clock. The Bulldogs tied the score off a 3-pointer from Nate Watson, who led BHS with 14 points.
The Indians were then forced into a turnover, and eventually BHS regained the lead with 1:38 left in the game of a 3-pointer by Ryan Storer for a 56-53 lead. The Indians never regained the lead as time ran out.
In the first half, the Indians also lost Marshall Ward due to an injury.
“This is twice now. We didn’t have him against Greenfield and tonight,” Miles said. “We’ve got to learn to play when guys go down, and other guys have to step up. He is such a big key to our success, but we’ve got to find guys to step in there and carry the load for him. We will. The guys are working hard.”
Next for the Indians is a home FAC game on Tuesday, Dec. 12 vs. Jackson.
Hillsboro dominated the first frame, beginning the game with an 11-0 run with 3:10 left in the opening quarter. From there, they built that lead to a 17-point advantage with a 19-2 score at the 1:41 mark of the quarter and eventually led by a 21-6 score after the opening eight minutes had expired.
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In the ensuing eight minutes, all of the Indians’ momentum and their double-digit lead expired too, as the home team went from having a 15-point lead after eight minutes to trailing by one point after 16 minutes with Batavia taking a 26-25 lead at halftime.
As for that first frame, the Indians built their initial 11-0 run with points from Phillip Mycroft, Josh Keets, Jakwon Clark and Ethan Watson. After two points from the Bulldogs, the Indians came back with a jumper by Keets and two points on a fast break from Watson for a 15-2 lead with 2:30 left on the clock. Watson finished with 12 points.
Following a timeout, the Indians added points from Mycroft (who totaled 13 points) and Watson for the aforementioned 17-point lead. Watson scored the final HHS points of the quarter with a layup, eventually leading by a 21-6 score.
The complete opposite occurred in the second frame with the Indians being outscored 20-5, as the Bulldogs opened the frame with a 7-0 run with 4:08 left in the quarter and eventually cut the HHS lead to a single point following a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left in the second. The Bulldogs took the lead with the final points of the half off two free throws.
“There was really poor effort on our part after the first quarter,” HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. “It was very disappointing. We did not play well at all for three quarters. I talked to the guys about how we can’t just pick and choose and flip a switch. That’s not how we’re built. I felt like there were times we built a lead there in the third quarter and it’s like hey, we’re back to the comfort zone. We can’t do that against basketball teams, and it caught up to us.
“I hate to see how many turnovers we had. We were careless with the basketball (Saturday). We just didn’t do a good job of being patient. We told them we had to be patient against the zone. I thought we did a lot of dribbling against the zone in the first half, and we did a little bit better job in the second half of moving the zone with the ball and getting it to Josh in the high post.
“The bottom line at the end of the night is it was the defensive end that hurt us. [Batavia's] kids got hot and made a few threes. We had some bad rotations, and we weren’t able to contest them.”
HHS (4-1) came out quick in the third with points from Keets and Clark to regain the lead at 29-26 with 6:48 left in the quarter. Keets led HHS with 16 points and Clark finished with eight points.
Batavia answered with a 3-pointer, but the Indians came back with a 3-pointer from Watson and a layup by Mason Swayne for a 34-29 advantage. Swayne finished with seven points.
HHS remained in control of the third frame, ending it with a 12-point lead, outscoring the visiting Bulldogs, 25-12.
Like in the second frame, the Indians had trouble with an even-numbered quarter, with the Bulldogs taking advantage of the Indians’ miscues, eventually tying the score at 53 by beginning a 13-3 run for the third score with 2:40 on the clock. The Bulldogs tied the score off a 3-pointer from Nate Watson, who led BHS with 14 points.
The Indians were then forced into a turnover, and eventually BHS regained the lead with 1:38 left in the game of a 3-pointer by Ryan Storer for a 56-53 lead. The Indians never regained the lead as time ran out.
In the first half, the Indians also lost Marshall Ward due to an injury.
“This is twice now. We didn’t have him against Greenfield and tonight,” Miles said. “We’ve got to learn to play when guys go down, and other guys have to step up. He is such a big key to our success, but we’ve got to find guys to step in there and carry the load for him. We will. The guys are working hard.”
Next for the Indians is a home FAC game on Tuesday, Dec. 12 vs. Jackson.