Lady Indians have season come to a close in sectional loss to Washington
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
FRANKFORT — A season where the Hillsboro Lady Indians have had positives on the court and some growing pains as well came to a close Thursday night in the Division II SE District Sectional Semifinals, falling to the Washington Lady Blue Lions, 69-31.
This was the third time the No. 2 seeded Lady Blue Lions defeated the Lady Indians this season, with Washington winning by scores of 51-34 (Jan. 3) and 72-26 (Dec. 2) earlier in the season. Washington’s win moves them to 20-3 overall, as they were the Frontier Athletic Conference runners-up.
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For No. 7 seeded Hillsboro, they end the year at 8-15 overall, as they had a 2-8 mark in FAC play this season. Washington now stands at 20-3 overall.
The first quarter began with the Lady Indians having the first point of the game off a free throw from Riley Moberly, only to see the Lady Blue Lions score the next six points, including a 3-pointer by Shawna Conger and three points from the free-throw line by Rayana Burns, taking a 6-1 lead less than 2:00 into the quarter.
The Lady Indians broke up the short scoring run with two free throws by Madi Marsh, only to see Washington answer with eight straight points by Hannah Haithcock, Conger, Rayana Burns and Bre Taylor for a 14-3 advantage with 4:08 still on the first-quarter clock. Hillsboro made their first basket from the field with a jumper from Natalie Sullivan at the 3:55 mark, and less than a minute later, she made a block that landed in the stands.
Both teams ended the first with points as Lana Grover scored a two-point basket for the Lady Indians and Conger sank a 3-pointer for a 17-7 lead in favor of the Blue Lions. Grover finished the game for the Lady Indians with six points.
Hillsboro played a better second quarter offensively but was still outscored by the Lady Blue Lions, 23-16 for a halftime score of 40-23.
Conger was on point for Washington in the second quarter, scoring 13 points in the eight-minute frame, including three 3-pointers. She finished the game with 23 points, and in the first half alone the sophomore scored 21 points, making a total of five 3-pointers in the first half.
Washington finished with three players in double-figure scoring as Rayana Burns totaled 14 points and Kassidy Hines scored 10 points. Haithcock finished with nine points.
Also adding points for the Lady Blue Lions in the second were Maddy Garrison, Hines and Halli Wall. HHS in the second frame had two 3-pointers from Marsh, along with a trey by Kayden Watson. Marsh led HHS for the game in the scoring column with 10 points. Kelsey Burns, Grover and Karleigh Hopkins each scored two points in the second and Moberly sank a free throw.
Even though they were outscored by seven points in the second quarter, HHS did cut the Washington lead from as many as 14 points to single digits at nine points at the 3:10 mark of the quarter at 29-20.
“It seemed like we did a pretty good job getting it cut down to about eight points, but we didn’t get back three times in a row, and that kind of tilted it,” HHS head coach JR Moberly said. “They went to a 17-point halftime lead, and we couldn’t dig out of it. We started the third quarter bad and didn’t take care of the basketball.
“The kids were trying to do the right things, but we were just shaken and we didn’t recover.”
That third quarter was tough on the Lady Indians and was the part of the game where the Lady Blue Lions took complete control and never looked back, outscoring HHS, 17-6 and taking a 57-29 lead.
In the third frame, Hillsboro’s six points came from Sullivan, Kelsey Burns and Grover. Washington’s third consisted of points by Rayana Burns, Hines, Conger and Hannah Haithcock.
The fourth quarter saw the Lady Indians score just two points off free throws by Grover. Washington scored 12 points in the final quarter, with Rayana Burns, Hines, Wall (a 3-pointer), Haithcock and Cloe Copas all adding points to their lead.
Seniors for the Lady Indians who played in their final game were Riley Moberly, Kaley Burns, Natalie Sullivan and Madi Marsh, as Coach Moberly spoke about the group of seniors and the season as a whole.
“I thought we had some nice wins against some nice basketball teams this season, but I feel we left some wins out on the table,” he said. “We had to battle a lot of adversity with injuries and things of that sort, so I’m proud of the kids with the way they handled a lot of those things and the way they persevered and held with it.
“We have a lot of kids coming back, and it is certainly tough to say goodbye to our seniors. They will all be great, and they will do good things. We will miss them.”
HHS totaled three 3-pointers in the loss and were 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.
With the win, the Lady Blue Lions will play in the sectional final on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Adena High School against No. 3 Unioto. The game is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m.
This was the third time the No. 2 seeded Lady Blue Lions defeated the Lady Indians this season, with Washington winning by scores of 51-34 (Jan. 3) and 72-26 (Dec. 2) earlier in the season. Washington’s win moves them to 20-3 overall, as they were the Frontier Athletic Conference runners-up.
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For No. 7 seeded Hillsboro, they end the year at 8-15 overall, as they had a 2-8 mark in FAC play this season. Washington now stands at 20-3 overall.
The first quarter began with the Lady Indians having the first point of the game off a free throw from Riley Moberly, only to see the Lady Blue Lions score the next six points, including a 3-pointer by Shawna Conger and three points from the free-throw line by Rayana Burns, taking a 6-1 lead less than 2:00 into the quarter.
The Lady Indians broke up the short scoring run with two free throws by Madi Marsh, only to see Washington answer with eight straight points by Hannah Haithcock, Conger, Rayana Burns and Bre Taylor for a 14-3 advantage with 4:08 still on the first-quarter clock. Hillsboro made their first basket from the field with a jumper from Natalie Sullivan at the 3:55 mark, and less than a minute later, she made a block that landed in the stands.
Both teams ended the first with points as Lana Grover scored a two-point basket for the Lady Indians and Conger sank a 3-pointer for a 17-7 lead in favor of the Blue Lions. Grover finished the game for the Lady Indians with six points.
Hillsboro played a better second quarter offensively but was still outscored by the Lady Blue Lions, 23-16 for a halftime score of 40-23.
Conger was on point for Washington in the second quarter, scoring 13 points in the eight-minute frame, including three 3-pointers. She finished the game with 23 points, and in the first half alone the sophomore scored 21 points, making a total of five 3-pointers in the first half.
Washington finished with three players in double-figure scoring as Rayana Burns totaled 14 points and Kassidy Hines scored 10 points. Haithcock finished with nine points.
Also adding points for the Lady Blue Lions in the second were Maddy Garrison, Hines and Halli Wall. HHS in the second frame had two 3-pointers from Marsh, along with a trey by Kayden Watson. Marsh led HHS for the game in the scoring column with 10 points. Kelsey Burns, Grover and Karleigh Hopkins each scored two points in the second and Moberly sank a free throw.
Even though they were outscored by seven points in the second quarter, HHS did cut the Washington lead from as many as 14 points to single digits at nine points at the 3:10 mark of the quarter at 29-20.
“It seemed like we did a pretty good job getting it cut down to about eight points, but we didn’t get back three times in a row, and that kind of tilted it,” HHS head coach JR Moberly said. “They went to a 17-point halftime lead, and we couldn’t dig out of it. We started the third quarter bad and didn’t take care of the basketball.
“The kids were trying to do the right things, but we were just shaken and we didn’t recover.”
That third quarter was tough on the Lady Indians and was the part of the game where the Lady Blue Lions took complete control and never looked back, outscoring HHS, 17-6 and taking a 57-29 lead.
In the third frame, Hillsboro’s six points came from Sullivan, Kelsey Burns and Grover. Washington’s third consisted of points by Rayana Burns, Hines, Conger and Hannah Haithcock.
The fourth quarter saw the Lady Indians score just two points off free throws by Grover. Washington scored 12 points in the final quarter, with Rayana Burns, Hines, Wall (a 3-pointer), Haithcock and Cloe Copas all adding points to their lead.
Seniors for the Lady Indians who played in their final game were Riley Moberly, Kaley Burns, Natalie Sullivan and Madi Marsh, as Coach Moberly spoke about the group of seniors and the season as a whole.
“I thought we had some nice wins against some nice basketball teams this season, but I feel we left some wins out on the table,” he said. “We had to battle a lot of adversity with injuries and things of that sort, so I’m proud of the kids with the way they handled a lot of those things and the way they persevered and held with it.
“We have a lot of kids coming back, and it is certainly tough to say goodbye to our seniors. They will all be great, and they will do good things. We will miss them.”
HHS totaled three 3-pointers in the loss and were 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.
With the win, the Lady Blue Lions will play in the sectional final on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Adena High School against No. 3 Unioto. The game is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m.