Lady Indians keep close, fall to Chillicothe

The Hillsboro Lady Indians held the lead twice in the fourth quarter, but just let the game narrowly slip away in the final four minutes of their South Central Ohio League matchup with Chillicothe, Wednesday at HHS.

In fact, the Lady Indians held a 32-31 lead with 4:32 left in regulation, only to see the lead slowly slip away and gradually be built up by the visiting Lady Cavaliers, as the Lady Indians eventually lost by 11 points at 48-37.

Even with the loss sending them to 1-13 overall on the season, Hillsboro showed the gradual improvement needed for a young program, and that is what occurred in the second, third and part of the fourth frames.

The Lady Indians trailed 16-7 at the completion of the first frame, but in the second quarter, they held their opponent to just four points, while they added 10 points for their side of the scoreboard, trailing by just three points at halftime at 20-17.

“I’m real pleased with their effort and the energy they played with,” HHS head coach JR Moberly said of his team following the game. “Chillicothe is athletic, they really get out and press you, but I thought our girls responded really well and attacked back. They kept battling back, attacking the basket, and when you play that tempo, you are going to make some mistakes and turnovers, but our girls turned right around and made up for them.

“I was really pleased with the effort and energy we played with (Wednesday). I thought for the first time all year, we were the ones wearing people down. We had the energy and reserve at the end of the first half, and at the end, we made some mistakes and had to foul. This was not an 11-point game, and I was pleased with the girls.”

In that second frame, Kristin Jamieson made it a 16-9 score with two points, and Madison Snyder followed with a two-point basket to bring HHS within five points of tying the score with 7:06 left in the second. Snyder led HHS with 13 points.

After two points from the Lady Cavs, Madi Marsh and Jamieson combined for four points to make it a one-point game at 18-17, but CHS scored two final points right before halftime for a 20-17 score.

The third frame was kind to the Lady Indians as well, as they added nine more points to the scoreboard, while CHS also scored nine points in the same frame for a 29-26 score in favor of CHS.

HHS scored seven of the first nine points in the third, beginning with Lana Grover sinking a jumper. Following points by the Lady Cavs, Jamieson added two points for the Lady Indians, and Snyder had a three-point play with 3:32 on the clock for a 24-22 Hillsboro lead, their first of the game.

Grover finished with eight points, and Jamieson totaled nine points.

CHS tied the game under 20 seconds later, and the Lady Indians regained the top spot with a jumper by Snyder, but that lead went away as well with a 3-pointer from Chillicothe’s Shawntel Smith at the 3:02 mark, and by the quarter ended, CHS led by a 29-26 score.

Snyder was first to score points in the fourth frame as she was fouled, and Riley Moberly sank a jumper at the 5:47 mark to give HHS a 30-29 lead. CHS took the lead back at the 4:43 mark, only to see HHS gain what would be their last lead of the game, this time off two points by Grover with 4:32 left in regulation.

From there, the Lady Cavaliers used some turnovers to their advantage and shots from the free-throw line to outscore HHS, 17-5 in the final half of the fourth frame. For the quarter itself, Chillicothe outscored the Lady Indians, 19-11.

“It was good to see our kids play with that kind of energy in any kind of game. We’ve been looking for that type of energy all season,” Moberly said. “I believe they have a lot to offer, and the chore has been getting them to believe what we’ve known all along that they can do.

“I thought the girls can play that way, and hopefully we continue to play that way and not take a step back. If we play like we did tonight, we can win some basketball games.”

CHS finished 12-of-23 at the free-throw line, and HHS was 10-of-15.

Osh Brown led CHS with 18 points, followed by Shawnee Smith with 12 points.

HHS will play another SCOL game on Saturday night as they host the East Clinton Lady Astros.