Lady Indians win on Senior Night over Lady 'Cane
Though the Wilmington Lady Hurricane made things interesting for a second time against the Hillsboro Lady Indians this season, the night belonged to the senior class of Hillsboro, with the group of six players winning the final home game of their high school careers.
For the six Lady Indians seniors — Kaylynn Bell, Tyeika Cumberland, Kirsten Juillerat, Hannah Kibler, Trista Rhodes and Alyssa Sullivan — they were a big part of the win on Wednesday night at HHS, with the Lady Indians winning by a 50-42 score.
The win not only gave HHS a season sweep against Wilmington (they won at Wilmington, 65-58 on Jan. 7), but it moved them to 8-5 in the South Central Ohio League and 14-6 overall on the season.
Hillsboro has already surpassed their win total from last season when they finished with an overall record of 11-12 and have doubled their SCOL win total from four to eight thus far with one SCOL game remaining.
Wilmington's loss moves them to 4-9 in the SCOL and 7-13 overall.
"We went through the same thing at their place, and we talked about it at halftime," HHS head coach JR Moberly said. "We built a good lead up there, and they forced us into overtime. Even with our lead (Wednesday), we knew they weren't done and were going to keep playing.
"We did what we had to do to hang on and get the win. I was proud of the girls, and we had a lot of girls step up, because they were asked to do a lot."
HHS jumped ahead early against the young Lady 'Cane team, with Bell and Rhodes putting HHS in front 4-2 within a minute of the first frame. Later in the quarter, it was Rhodes, Bell and Cumberland moving HHS ahead 10-4 with 2:05 on the clock.
"Trista made some big baskets early on to help us build that lead," Moberly said. "Kaylynn played a good game for us as well."
Bell led all scorers with 18 points, while Rhodes finished with eight points. In fact, all six seniors scored points in the game, with Sullivan finishing with six and Juillerat with four points. Cumberland and Kibler each scored two points.
"Hannah did a nice job late in the game, and though sometimes she goes 100 miles per hour, she knows what she's doing," Moberly said. "Tyeika did a solid job early on, and Alyssa gave us some solid minutes."
Following two points by the visitors, the Lady Indians scored the final five points of the first with junior Madison Snyder (who totaled nine points) adding two points to the total with points in the paint and a 3-pointer by Bell with a defender in her face for a 15-6 advantage.
"Madison came off the bench this game and had some big minutes and big contributions for us," Moberly said. "She made some big rebounds and baskets down the stretch."
As a note, HHS had an all-senior lineup to open the game.
"I was proud of the girls who started the game," Moberly said. "Those girls played great. We got a lot of contributions from our seniors (Wednesday)."
The Lady Indians led 27-14 at halftime, even though WHS opened the second with six straight points by Bryah Arehart, Victoria Fliehman and Katlyn Jamiel for a 15-12 HHS advantage with 5:19 left in the first half.
Fliehman led WHS with 14 points, while Jamiel was next with 10.
Those points didn't stagger the Lady Indians; in fact, HHS increased the intensity, and it showed on the scoreboard with Bell scoring four consecutive points, followed by a jumper by Kibler, two free throws from Snyder and two points off a layup by Sullivan, pushing the HHS advantage to 13 points with 2:25 left in the second frame.
HHS eventually ended the first-half scoring with two points by Rhodes for a 13-point halftime lead.
By the end of the third frame, Hillsboro built a 19-point advantage for a 43-24 lead, but in the final eight minutes, the visiting Lady 'Cane won the quarter, 18-7, due in part to Bell leaving the game midway through the third with an injury.
In that final frame, WHS got to within eight points of HHS with 1:01 left in regulation, but one big play that stopped the momentum of Wilmington was Reaghan Haines taking a charge with 37.8 left, giving HHS possession of the ball and keeping WHS from adding to their side of the scoreboard.
The final points for HHS came with 2:51 on the clock with Madi Marsh sinking a free throw.
From the free-throw line, WHS was 15-of-24, and the Lady Indians were 6-of-9. HHS committed 20 turnovers, and WHS finished with 14.
HHS will play again on Saturday, on the road, against rival McClain. JV is scheduled for a 6 p.m. start.