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Under pressure: Indians use full-court to gain 7th straight win against Tigers WATCH THE VIDEO

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By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The first half was uneventful, with each team scoring 12 points. The second half ... that was another story altogether.  

The South Central Ohio League-leading Hillsboro Indians (6-1, 9-3) broke away with transition offense and pressure defense. The McClain Tigers got down, dusted themselves off and fought back to stay in the game. But in the end, after a testy moment late in the final quarter, it was the Hillsboro Indians who were victorious for the seventh straight time against their Highland County rival, defeating MHS 46-36 Tuesday night at Hillsboro High School.

Hillsboro defeated MHS earlier this season (at McClain High School), 49-43. The Tribe hasn't lost to their cross-county rival since the 2007-08 season. Before Hillsboro's current streak, the Tigers won eight-of-nine times against the Indians (dating back to the 2004-05 season.)

But on Jan. 18, 2011, the Indians put the game in their hands at the start of the third frame, giving the Tigers their seventh straight SCOL loss of the season (0-7, 3-8). HHS outscored MHS, 34-24 in the second half.

The difference in the game was Hillsboro's full-court pressure, and both coaches agreed.  

"Their full-court pressure and our point guard (Jared Loftis) being on the bench with four fouls was the difference," MHS head coach Brent Eaton said. "Loftis being on the bench, they went on a run. The hardest thing for us is, when teams get up 10 points against us, it is difficult for us to come back because we lack the scoring we need, but we need to find a way for other kids to get better in that situation."

HHS head coach Tim Davis also talked about his team's ability to use their defense to their advantage.

"We came into the game with an attitude of we have to get stops first. At London (last Saturday) we didn't do a good job of guarding the ball in the full-court, so we wanted to come out (Tuesday) and make stops early. Then we saw a pattern of what Greenfield was trying to do, so we stepped up our pressure.

"(Full court pressure) is one of our strengths, and we knew if we get some stops early and we sat down and played some good man-to-man defense, then we would extend it out. Once we did that in the first half, we said we need to make some changes, and that sparked us offensively. We got some good layups in transition."

This is the Tigers' second loss in four days. They were held to 25 points against Washington last Saturday night at MHS.

MHS has also played the past two games without starter Scott Balzer, due to an ankle injury. HHS played without Colt Coates who was also injured.

"He's our best off-the-wall defender. He's a smart kid, makes good decisions off the ball. He's on the bench, and we have to learn to deal with it," Eaton said.

However, the Tigers scored first in the second half with a jumper by Zach Matracia. Matracia, a senior, led with a game-high 17 points.

HHS answered, then surpassed, those two points with a 7-0 run to take a 19-14 advantage with 6:22 left in the quarter. Once HHS regained the lead with a 3-pointer by Cumberland, the Indians never trailed for the remainder of the varsity contest. Cumberland's trey was followed with free throws by Eli Hogsett and a layup by Aric Carroll. Cumberland and Carroll each led HHS in scoring with 11 points apiece.

The scoring run by Indians was stopped by Matracia on a jumper at the 5:42 mark of the quarter. Though MHS stopped their scoring issues, the Indians continued to add points with Carroll and Chase Gilliland each scoring on turnovers in transition for a 25-16 lead, forcing the Tigers to use a timeout.

Following the timeout, Zach Uhl connected with a 3-pointer for MHS, followed with Aaron Pryor scoring two uncontested points in the paint to bring MHS back within four points of the HHS lead, leaving 2:55 left in the third.

But the Hillsboro pressure on defense, added with another scoring run, ended the quarter on a 9-2 run, putting the Tribe up 34-23 after the third-quarter buzzer sounded.

Once the fourth quarter began, the Indians slowed down the game, but after scoring five points to start the frame, the plan almost backfired, with the Tigers taking advantage of the Indians playing the Tigers' style of basketball, scoring nine straight points to come back within seven points of tying the game after trailing by 15 with 6:46 left in the game. Matracia, Pryor and Uhl contributed to the scoring during the run.

"I think if anyone has seen us play, they know we don't have any quit in us," Eaton said. "We just have some skill deficits we have to overcome, but if you watch us play, you can't say we are going out there and laying an egg. Effort-wise, that is a credit to the kids and their parents. That is how they were raised. They refuse to quit."

The Tribe regained their edge in the final minutes, scoring at the 1:12 mark of the quarter, almost five minutes between points.  

"We were up I think 15, and we knew we wanted to take good shots. Sometimes taking the air out of it, the kids get a little stagnant, and we made some bad passes. They (MHS) cut it to ten, and I'm not going to lie, we got a little nervous, but I knew we'd take care of it, and if it came down to free throws, I was confident our kids would make them. We got some big rebounds from Tyrand Cumberland that sealed the deal for us."
 
With 22.8 left in the game, the referees huddled both teams in a circle to stop overly physical playing from both teams as a foul and technical foul was called. Jarrod Hart sank two free throws with 45.8 left in regulation.

"Credit Hillsboro, they are a well-coached team and played us tough defensively," Eaton said.

HHS jumps to 6-1 in the SCOL, 9-3 overall with the win. They are scheduled to face Madison-Plains (at MP) on Friday, Jan. 21 in a SCOL showdown. The Tigers fall to 3-9 overall, 0-7 in the SCOL. MHS will host Clinton-Massie on Friday, also a SCOL matchup.

GAME NOTES: Loftis took three charges for MHS (Thomas Schrader had one taken charge) … MHS had 21 rebounds (six offensive) … HHS had 23 rebounds (five offensive) … In the turnover department ,MHS had 15 and HHS had 14 … Pryor led MHS with six rebounds and three blocked shots … Uhl, Pryor and Matracia each had two steals … MHS led 8-5 after the first quarter … Matracia was the leading scorer at halftime with six points … In their 7-game winning streak against MHS, the Indians have held the Tigers under 40 points three times.[[In-content Ad]]

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