Lady Tigers break tie in final seconds to propel past Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
For the second straight game, the fourth quarter proved pivotal for the Hillsboro Lady Indians, but this time it was the McClain Lady Tigers who were the victors with a game-winning put-back basket in the final seconds.
The winning basket came on a sequence of events with Taylor Polley starting with the basketball, followed by a pass to Shania Massie, who went to Malea Montavon in the paint.
From there, the shot was missed, and the ball was rebounded by Sarah Thompson and went through the hoop with a put-back by Montavon, leaving 5.0 on the clock and eventually leading to a 46-44 Lady Tigers victory.
"We wanted to run something we could run," McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. "We had a wide-open look the first time, but the girls were just resilient on the offensive glass. Montavon stuck with it and got the big put-back, then made a big defensive play at the end."
The win puts MHS at 5-1 in the South Central Ohio League and 11-2 overall, while the Lady Indians are now 4-3 in the SCOL and 9-4 overall.
"We've been shooting the ball really well, but from the outside (Saturday) we didn't," Haines said. "It took one quarter for us to realize we need to get inside, and our guards made things happen."
In their previous game, the Lady Indians went to overtime to gain a win against the Wilmington Lady 'Cane.
"We played hard, but I didn't think we played especially well, but maybe (McClain) gets some of the credit for that," HHS head coach JR Moberly said. "They made some adjustments to some of the things we like to do … they took some of that away from us, but we expected that.
"I thought we did a nice job of taking away some of the things they like to do. You are going to get that when you see each other play four or five times a year."
The first quarter began what was one of the closest, if not the closest, game for both of the Highland County rivals with Hillsboro starting with the first basket, a 3-pointer by Kirsten Juillerat at the 7:27 mark of the first. Juillerat finished with seven points.
HHS eventually took a 7-2 lead with points from Kaylynn Bell and Hannah Kibler with under four minutes left in the opening quarter. Bell ended the game with 10 points, and Kibler followed with eight.
"Hannah had a good night rebounding the basketball and has been doing a great job on the boards for us," Moberly said.
The Lady Tigers responded with a 3-pointer by Polley and two free throws by Massie.
Polley made it a 6-0 run in a span of under two minutes with another free throw to tie the score at 9-9. Polley led the Lady Tigers with 14 points, and Massie also finished with 14 points.
HHS broke the tie at the end of the first with a put-back by Alyssa Sullivan for the 11-9 advantage.
McClain wasted no time tying the score at the start of the second with points in the paint by Beth Montgomery (who totaled nine points), but the Lady Indians soon led 16-12 following a 3-pointer by Bell with 4:25 left in the first half.
"Beth played a great offensive game, and Taylor and Shania did what we asked them to do … to get up the gut and distribute the basketball," Haines said.
Following points from Thompson and Massie, the Lady Tigers tied the score at 16, but HHS came back with four straight points of their own from Trista Rhodes and Juillerat for a 20-16 lead. Rhodes ended the game with seven points.
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"Trista shot the ball well and did a nice job," Moberly said. "She made some adjustments on the fly, and she's been doing a lot of nice things for us that don't show up in the box score. I'm real pleased with the leadership she's given."
MHS responded with six straight points to end the quarter as Montgomery, Massie and Polley each scored two points to push the Lady Tigers ahead 22-20.
MHS continued to keep the lead in the second half, leading 37-31 after the third quarter. At one point in the third, MHS had a 13-2 run that included points by Massie, Montavon, Polley and Lexie Barton that put MHS ahead, 35-25. In that span of scoring, Polley and Massie each made a 3-pointer. Montavon finished with six points.
It was Hillsboro's turn to have a comeback in the fourth. At one point, they had a 7-2 run with Kibler sinking a jumper, a 3-pointer by Rhodes and a jumper from Rhodes as well to get to within a single point of the Lady Tigers at 41-40 halfway through the quarter.
Later, with 1:03 left in the game, it was Madison Snyder who tied the game at 40 with two free throws. Snyder totaled six points in the loss. Also with six points for HHS was Sullivan.
The Lady Indians didn't have much time from the free-throw line, as their first trip to the line didn't come until the fourth quarter. MHS finished 13-of-19 from the line.
After the put-back basket by Montavon with 5.0 on the clock, HHS was called for an offensive foul at mid-court with just 1.2 seconds on the clock.
"Really, this was a bunch of missed opportunities for us," Moberly said. "We missed an opportunity to rebound the basketball to send it to overtime, and a couple stick-backs here and there, and we had a couple turnovers.
"It wasn't necessarily a well-played game by either team, but that is the kind of game you get in this kind of rivalry. You go and battle, and the team that wants it the most wins, and they wanted it two points better than us (Saturday)."
Haines was pleased with the defense of his team, especially that of Thompson.
"Sarah played amazing on Snyder," he said. "She's undersized, but played physical, and that goes for Beth as well. Our post defense was really good, and that's why we won."
In JV play, Hillsboro defeated MHS, 40-11. Hillsboro was led by Madi Marsh with 11 points. Brooke Foody led MHS with five points.
The winning basket came on a sequence of events with Taylor Polley starting with the basketball, followed by a pass to Shania Massie, who went to Malea Montavon in the paint.
From there, the shot was missed, and the ball was rebounded by Sarah Thompson and went through the hoop with a put-back by Montavon, leaving 5.0 on the clock and eventually leading to a 46-44 Lady Tigers victory.
"We wanted to run something we could run," McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. "We had a wide-open look the first time, but the girls were just resilient on the offensive glass. Montavon stuck with it and got the big put-back, then made a big defensive play at the end."
The win puts MHS at 5-1 in the South Central Ohio League and 11-2 overall, while the Lady Indians are now 4-3 in the SCOL and 9-4 overall.
"We've been shooting the ball really well, but from the outside (Saturday) we didn't," Haines said. "It took one quarter for us to realize we need to get inside, and our guards made things happen."
In their previous game, the Lady Indians went to overtime to gain a win against the Wilmington Lady 'Cane.
"We played hard, but I didn't think we played especially well, but maybe (McClain) gets some of the credit for that," HHS head coach JR Moberly said. "They made some adjustments to some of the things we like to do … they took some of that away from us, but we expected that.
"I thought we did a nice job of taking away some of the things they like to do. You are going to get that when you see each other play four or five times a year."
The first quarter began what was one of the closest, if not the closest, game for both of the Highland County rivals with Hillsboro starting with the first basket, a 3-pointer by Kirsten Juillerat at the 7:27 mark of the first. Juillerat finished with seven points.
HHS eventually took a 7-2 lead with points from Kaylynn Bell and Hannah Kibler with under four minutes left in the opening quarter. Bell ended the game with 10 points, and Kibler followed with eight.
"Hannah had a good night rebounding the basketball and has been doing a great job on the boards for us," Moberly said.
The Lady Tigers responded with a 3-pointer by Polley and two free throws by Massie.
Polley made it a 6-0 run in a span of under two minutes with another free throw to tie the score at 9-9. Polley led the Lady Tigers with 14 points, and Massie also finished with 14 points.
HHS broke the tie at the end of the first with a put-back by Alyssa Sullivan for the 11-9 advantage.
McClain wasted no time tying the score at the start of the second with points in the paint by Beth Montgomery (who totaled nine points), but the Lady Indians soon led 16-12 following a 3-pointer by Bell with 4:25 left in the first half.
"Beth played a great offensive game, and Taylor and Shania did what we asked them to do … to get up the gut and distribute the basketball," Haines said.
Following points from Thompson and Massie, the Lady Tigers tied the score at 16, but HHS came back with four straight points of their own from Trista Rhodes and Juillerat for a 20-16 lead. Rhodes ended the game with seven points.
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"Trista shot the ball well and did a nice job," Moberly said. "She made some adjustments on the fly, and she's been doing a lot of nice things for us that don't show up in the box score. I'm real pleased with the leadership she's given."
MHS responded with six straight points to end the quarter as Montgomery, Massie and Polley each scored two points to push the Lady Tigers ahead 22-20.
MHS continued to keep the lead in the second half, leading 37-31 after the third quarter. At one point in the third, MHS had a 13-2 run that included points by Massie, Montavon, Polley and Lexie Barton that put MHS ahead, 35-25. In that span of scoring, Polley and Massie each made a 3-pointer. Montavon finished with six points.
It was Hillsboro's turn to have a comeback in the fourth. At one point, they had a 7-2 run with Kibler sinking a jumper, a 3-pointer by Rhodes and a jumper from Rhodes as well to get to within a single point of the Lady Tigers at 41-40 halfway through the quarter.
Later, with 1:03 left in the game, it was Madison Snyder who tied the game at 40 with two free throws. Snyder totaled six points in the loss. Also with six points for HHS was Sullivan.
The Lady Indians didn't have much time from the free-throw line, as their first trip to the line didn't come until the fourth quarter. MHS finished 13-of-19 from the line.
After the put-back basket by Montavon with 5.0 on the clock, HHS was called for an offensive foul at mid-court with just 1.2 seconds on the clock.
"Really, this was a bunch of missed opportunities for us," Moberly said. "We missed an opportunity to rebound the basketball to send it to overtime, and a couple stick-backs here and there, and we had a couple turnovers.
"It wasn't necessarily a well-played game by either team, but that is the kind of game you get in this kind of rivalry. You go and battle, and the team that wants it the most wins, and they wanted it two points better than us (Saturday)."
Haines was pleased with the defense of his team, especially that of Thompson.
"Sarah played amazing on Snyder," he said. "She's undersized, but played physical, and that goes for Beth as well. Our post defense was really good, and that's why we won."
In JV play, Hillsboro defeated MHS, 40-11. Hillsboro was led by Madi Marsh with 11 points. Brooke Foody led MHS with five points.