Lady Indians bow out of sectionals; fall to Waverly
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
FRANKFORT — The productive 2010-11 Hillsboro Lady Indians' season came to a sudden heartbreak on Valentine's Day, Monday night. HHS dropped their sectional opening game to the Waverly Lady Tigers, 55-32 at Adena High School in the opening game of the Division II SE District Sectional tournament.
HHS (4-17) finished with their best record in recent
memory, gaining four wins, while rebuilding for the future under new head coach JR Moberly and a group of five seniors who played with high intensity for the entire season.
Playing in their final game for HHS were seniors Brooke Shafer, Jenni Willey, A.J. Sanders, Maggie Tamborski and Monique Burns.
"Our seniors are an outstanding group of kids," HHS head coach JR Moberly said. "I'd give anything to have all of them back, I really would. I would love to have the same group of 10 or 11 kids back next year. They came a long way, and it was our seniors who kept us fighting. They didn't let us quit every day, regardless of what happened the day before. They battled and played and kept us up. All of them are going to be successful at what they do."
For the Lady Indians, Willey led them in scoring with nine points, while Sanders scored five points.
The game was close after the first half with HHS trailing 27-12, but after cutting the Waverly (6-15) lead to 11 points with 4:39 left in the quarter, the game slipped away from the Lady Indians for good.
"I don't want to make excuses, Waverly played great against us tonight," Moberly said. "They beat us down the floor, they beat us to loose balls, and they they beat us to rebounds, and they shot the ball great."
Though they never led in the game, HHS went on a mini-run in the early stages of the third frame with points from Sanders and Whitney Earley.
But after Carey Juillerat cut the Waverly team to the aforementioned 11 points, that is when the Lady Tigers switched gears and pulled away for good.
Waverly went on a 10-0 run to end the third for a lead of 43-22 after three quarters.
"I probably missed an opportunity to call a timeout in a stretch early in the first half, and again in the second half when they made 14- and 10-point runs, but it happened so quick. We cut the lead down a couple times, but Waverly kept building it back up," Moberly said.
In the run to end the third, Ali Walls sank two 3-pointers. Also scoring in the run for Waverly were Taylor Casey and Hannah Brewster.
The final quarter began with all five of the HHS seniors taking the court one last time together, but overall, in the final eight minutes, the Lady Indians scored 10 points. Scoring the points in the fourth were Taylor Moberly, Willey and Sanders.
Moberly finished with seven points, scoring five points in the fourth, including a 3-pointer with 2:37 left in regulation.
As for the Lady Tigers, they added to the lead for good in the fourth with 12 points. Scoring for Waverly were Darian Harris, Bailey Diener, Walls, Paige Cisco and Elizabeth Fisher.
For the game, leading Waverly in scoring were Brewster and Walls with 15 points each. Walls sank five 3-pointers and Brewster made one 3-point basket, along with four field goals and four free throws.
Though Waverly ran away with the game in the second half, the first quarter was close with them leading by just four points at 10-6 after the quarter ended. At halftime the Lady Tigers led, 27-12.
There were key points for the Lady Indians in the first half as they scored four times with two-point baskets and went 3-of-8 from the free-throw line in the second quarter. In the second quarter, Waverly had a 14-0 run.
Also scoring in the game for HHS were Jessica Donahue with two points and Juillerat with five points. Danielle Gillman added two points.
HHS finished their regular season on Saturday with a win over London, for a South Central Ohio League record of 1-11.
"We didn't play like we did Saturday night against London," Moberly said. "The kids gave us everything they had that night, and I just don't know how much was left tonight. We like to think night in-night out that it is there, but that isn't realistic. Coming off an emotional high, and battling like we did Saturday, I would have liked to have a couple extra days to unwind and prepare."
Moberly summed up the season.
"I know we've struggled in the past and I know we are rebuilding, but all we talked about this year with our kids was the future, the now and what we were going to do," he said. "We talked about what we could accomplish and how this season was going to be a foundation and a year we could build on next year and the year after with our younger kids. I'm excited for the kids we had this year … You are 3-16 headed into your final regular season game, and your kids come out and battle, and play with all the emotion we did Saturday night. A lot of teams and a lot of kids have quit by then, but our kids didn't. I think that speaks volumes for their character, their upbringing … they just fought through to the end. They gave me everything they had tonight, there just wasn't much left."
GAME NOTES: Each HHS senior got a standing ovation as they left the game in the fourth … starting for HHS were Tamborski, Juillerat, Earley, Sanders and Willey … HHS went 7-of-15 from the free-throw line … Waverly was 8-of-24 from the free-throw line … Waverly was 5-15 in the regular season … The Adena gym has 34 American flags hanging from the rafters.[[In-content Ad]]
HHS (4-17) finished with their best record in recent
memory, gaining four wins, while rebuilding for the future under new head coach JR Moberly and a group of five seniors who played with high intensity for the entire season.
Playing in their final game for HHS were seniors Brooke Shafer, Jenni Willey, A.J. Sanders, Maggie Tamborski and Monique Burns.
"Our seniors are an outstanding group of kids," HHS head coach JR Moberly said. "I'd give anything to have all of them back, I really would. I would love to have the same group of 10 or 11 kids back next year. They came a long way, and it was our seniors who kept us fighting. They didn't let us quit every day, regardless of what happened the day before. They battled and played and kept us up. All of them are going to be successful at what they do."
For the Lady Indians, Willey led them in scoring with nine points, while Sanders scored five points.
The game was close after the first half with HHS trailing 27-12, but after cutting the Waverly (6-15) lead to 11 points with 4:39 left in the quarter, the game slipped away from the Lady Indians for good.
"I don't want to make excuses, Waverly played great against us tonight," Moberly said. "They beat us down the floor, they beat us to loose balls, and they they beat us to rebounds, and they shot the ball great."
Though they never led in the game, HHS went on a mini-run in the early stages of the third frame with points from Sanders and Whitney Earley.
But after Carey Juillerat cut the Waverly team to the aforementioned 11 points, that is when the Lady Tigers switched gears and pulled away for good.
Waverly went on a 10-0 run to end the third for a lead of 43-22 after three quarters.
"I probably missed an opportunity to call a timeout in a stretch early in the first half, and again in the second half when they made 14- and 10-point runs, but it happened so quick. We cut the lead down a couple times, but Waverly kept building it back up," Moberly said.
In the run to end the third, Ali Walls sank two 3-pointers. Also scoring in the run for Waverly were Taylor Casey and Hannah Brewster.
The final quarter began with all five of the HHS seniors taking the court one last time together, but overall, in the final eight minutes, the Lady Indians scored 10 points. Scoring the points in the fourth were Taylor Moberly, Willey and Sanders.
Moberly finished with seven points, scoring five points in the fourth, including a 3-pointer with 2:37 left in regulation.
As for the Lady Tigers, they added to the lead for good in the fourth with 12 points. Scoring for Waverly were Darian Harris, Bailey Diener, Walls, Paige Cisco and Elizabeth Fisher.
For the game, leading Waverly in scoring were Brewster and Walls with 15 points each. Walls sank five 3-pointers and Brewster made one 3-point basket, along with four field goals and four free throws.
Though Waverly ran away with the game in the second half, the first quarter was close with them leading by just four points at 10-6 after the quarter ended. At halftime the Lady Tigers led, 27-12.
There were key points for the Lady Indians in the first half as they scored four times with two-point baskets and went 3-of-8 from the free-throw line in the second quarter. In the second quarter, Waverly had a 14-0 run.
Also scoring in the game for HHS were Jessica Donahue with two points and Juillerat with five points. Danielle Gillman added two points.
HHS finished their regular season on Saturday with a win over London, for a South Central Ohio League record of 1-11.
"We didn't play like we did Saturday night against London," Moberly said. "The kids gave us everything they had that night, and I just don't know how much was left tonight. We like to think night in-night out that it is there, but that isn't realistic. Coming off an emotional high, and battling like we did Saturday, I would have liked to have a couple extra days to unwind and prepare."
Moberly summed up the season.
"I know we've struggled in the past and I know we are rebuilding, but all we talked about this year with our kids was the future, the now and what we were going to do," he said. "We talked about what we could accomplish and how this season was going to be a foundation and a year we could build on next year and the year after with our younger kids. I'm excited for the kids we had this year … You are 3-16 headed into your final regular season game, and your kids come out and battle, and play with all the emotion we did Saturday night. A lot of teams and a lot of kids have quit by then, but our kids didn't. I think that speaks volumes for their character, their upbringing … they just fought through to the end. They gave me everything they had tonight, there just wasn't much left."
GAME NOTES: Each HHS senior got a standing ovation as they left the game in the fourth … starting for HHS were Tamborski, Juillerat, Earley, Sanders and Willey … HHS went 7-of-15 from the free-throw line … Waverly was 8-of-24 from the free-throw line … Waverly was 5-15 in the regular season … The Adena gym has 34 American flags hanging from the rafters.[[In-content Ad]]