Turnovers cost Indians in loss to Washington

Turnovers committed by the Hillsboro Indians and second-chance opportunities converted by the visiting Washington Blue Lions were two big causes for a home loss for the Tribe on Tuesday night.

Hillsboro kept the score close for three quarters, trailing by just 10 points, but the fourth frame was in complete favor of the South Central Ohio League visitors, with the Indians eventually falling by a 55-37 score.

With HHS trailing by just 10 points to start the third, that didn't last in the fourth as they were outscored, 18-10, leading their eighth league loss of the season, putting the Indians at 3-8 in the SCOL and 7-11 overall.

Washington's win moves them to 9-10 overall with a 7-4 mark in league play. In their first meeting this season on Jan. 6 at WSHS, the Blue Lions defeated HHS, 65-43.

"Turnovers were obviously the big factor in the game," HHS head coach Bruce Miles said. "Coming into the game, I wasn't concerned about their press, and (Tuesday) for whatever reason we kept tossing (the ball) into the stands.

"Every 50-50 ball they won … we had our hands on the basketball many times and we just weren't strong enough to get the basketball, so that was disappointing. We did rebound better. Bottom line is we didn't make any shots. Give the Blue Lions credit … they executed well, and that was the difference in the ballgame."

Before the eight-point deficit that was the fourth quarter, the first frame was the closest of the game, with Washington winning the quarter, 10-7.

Cameron Eckles, who finished with 15 points, was first to score in the game for the Blue Lions, but those two points were answered with Zach Young and Alex Van Zant each scoring two points for a 4-2 HHS advantage.

Unfortunately for the Indians, the Blue Lions scored six straight points, with Hillsboro's Trey Moberly breaking the short scoring run with a jumper at the 1:18 mark. HHS made it a three-point game with Van Zant making one free throw for the final points of the quarter.

Van Zant led the Indians with 14 points, and Moberly ended the game with five points in the loss.

The second frame was closely contested as well, but the Blue Lions led the quarter 13-10, and they started that scoring with five straight points to start the second. In those five points, Max Knisley sank the first of his five 3-pointers with 6:59 left in the first half.

Knisley led the Blue Lions with 18 points in their SCOL win.

"Max Knisley is a great player, and he did a lot of good things against us … not only shooting the basketball, but he got his teammates involved," Miles said.

HHS made it a 15-11 score with Latrell Haithcock and Van Zant scoring points, but Knisley was there with a second trey in the game, pushing Washington ahead, 18-12 with 3:36 on the second-quarter clock.

Knisley scored five more points in the second, including a third connection from beyond the arc to give WSHS a 23-14 advantage with 1:25 left in the first half. The Indians answered with a 3-pointer by Zach Young to make it a 23-17 halftime score.

HHS, again, was outscored at the end of the quarter, this time with a 14-10 third frame against the Indians with Washington increasing their lead to 33-22 at the 4:23 mark of the quarter, including Knisley having a 3-pointer and a three-point play within eight game seconds of each other.

Of the 10 points by HHS in the third, Young and Moberly each had three, while Van Zant and Haithcock had two points in the quarter.

The fourth frame for HHS saw Young, Van Zant, Chase Reed and Haithcock combine for 10 points. Washington had six players add to their lead in the final quarter, including a final 3-pointer by Knisley.

In JV play, it was a heavyweight championship fight, as the Indians won in triple overtime over the Blue Lions, 55-54. The JV contest had nine ties, including the end of regulation at 43, followed with each team having 48 points after the first OT and a 50-50 score at the conclusion of the second OT.

Scoring what was the game-winning basket for the Indians was Marshall Ward with around 4.2 seconds left in the third OT.

Tyreke Captain and Cameron Reed led the HHS JV team with 11 points each. Ward and Philip Mycroft each scored 10 points for HHS in the JV win.