Lady Tigers gain FAC win at rival Hillsboro

HILLSBORO — The McClain Lady Tigers trailed early in the Frontier Athletic Conference game at Hillsboro Saturday afternoon, but once they got back on track, they went on a 12-0 run and never looked back for a 62-36 victory over the host Hillsboro Lady Indians.

Although Hillsboro scored the first three points of the game within the first two minutes of competition off a jumper from Karleigh Hopkins and a free throw by Josie Hopkins, it was McClain who closed out the first frame with 12 straight points from the 4:55 mark until the buzzer sounded for a 12-3 lead once the first quarter was complete.

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McClain’s run of points began with a put-back bucket by Bryn Karnes, followed by a layup by Karnes as well to give the Lady Tigers a 4-3 advantage. Next was a layup from Emma Stegbauer and two points from Kyla Burchett for a 8-3 advantage. MHS ended the first frame with points from Bri Weller and Burchett for the nine-point lead. Weller finished the game with seven points. Stegbauer followed with six points for the game.

“My kids are good at keeping their composure on starts like that, and we just had to get a few baskets to drop in and a few defensive stops,” MHS head coach Jarrod Haines said. “Bryn Karnes in the middle has been huge for us defensively, and Kyla Burchett had a heck of a day defensively. She made it hard for Hillsboro to guard her … I can’t say enough about her performance.”

In the second quarter, the scoring increased on both sides, with the Lady Tigers outscoring Hillsboro 21-14 in the second frame for a 33-17 lead.

McClain’s 21 points in the second included 10 points from Burchett, one point from Bri Weller and two points each from Kelli Uhrig, Karnes, Liz Kegley and Stegbauer. Burchett led the Lady Tigers with 19 points.

Hillsboro in the second frame was led by Jordan Moberly four points, while scoring two points each were Mackenzie Cosby, Gracie Dean, Kayden Watson, Josie Hopkins and Lana Grover. Josie Hopkins and Jordan Moberly each scored a total of six points in the game to lead the Lady Indians in the scoring column. Josie Hopkins also led HHS with six rebounds.

As the third frame came and went, it was McClain still dominating the pace of the game as they outscored HHS, 21-11 for a 54-28 advantage. McClain had five points from Burchett in the third (including a 3-pointer), along with six points by Karnes, four points by Weller, four points from Jaelyn Pitzer and two points by Stegbauer. Pitzer and Karnes each finished with 12 points in the game, as Karnes had 13 rebounds as well for a double-double and also added three blocks.

“Bryn has given us the missing piece we haven’t had the last couple years, and that is an inside post presence,” Haines said. “She really likes to clean up the basket with rebounds. Liz Kegley gave us some good minutes in the post, and Weller had a lot of good rebounds too.”

Hillsboro’s 11-point third frame saw Josie Hopkins score three points, and adding two points each were Dean, Watson, Grover and Moberly. Grover finished the game with five points.

Both teams scored eight points in the fourth frame with HHS having four points from Jaden Moberly, two points by Karleigh Hopkins and one point each from Grover and Eden Edenfield. All eight points in the fourth for McClain were scored by Pitzer, including two 3-pointers.

For the game, MHS totaled 22 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and they were 6-of-9 from the free-throw line. Hillsboro totaled 11 two-point baskets and were 14-of-22 in their free-throw shooting.

More final scoring for the Lady Indians included Dean, Watson, Karleigh Hopkins and Jaden Moberly with four points each.

McClain’s final scoring also included Cierra Bolender, Uhrig and Kegley all with two points each.

In the JV game, the Lady Tigers defeated McClain, 24-18. McClain was led by Evelyn Vanzant with nine points, and Iva Easter also scored nine points for MHS. Hillsboro was led by Dean and Edenfield with six points each.

Next for the Lady Tigers is a home game Thursday, Dec. 27 at home vs. the Adena Lady Warriors in non-conference play.

Hillsboro will play again Thursday, Dec. 27 on the road at Paint Valley in a non-conference game.

(Check back to highlandcountypress.com for more photos from the game.)