Lady Indians win the close one over Fairfield
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Hillsboro Lady Indians won one of the close ones Monday night, but it wasn't easy. Down double figures in the second half, the Fairfield Lady Lions took the lead, but in the end, their rally wasn't strong enough as the Lady Indians won over their Highland County counterparts, 63-58.
The non-league win by HHS was their fourth win of the season, as they move to 4-8 overall, but they didn't gain the win due to a lack of effort by the host Lady Lions, as FHS made HHS earn and claw for a win that both teams wanted.
HHS has won two of their past three games.
"Our kids played hard, both teams played hard," Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly said. "We haven't won many close games in the past few years ... we needed to win a close game, and (Monday) we did.
"We knew we needed all eight players who were in the game to play well, and they did."
Following a very physical and competitive first half where HHS led 33-30, the start of the third frame was mostly Hillsboro as they jumped out to a 42-32 lead with points by Madison Snyder and Kaylynn Bell (who totaled 16 points), with Snyder scoring the first two points of the frame and Bell following with seven straight points with 3:27 left in the quarter.
From there, the Lady Indians held onto a lead that morphed into a 51-44 advantage at the conclusion on the frame.
In the final eight minutes, it was Fairfield who jumped out to the early lead as they forced three consecutive Hillsboro turnovers, turning those turnovers into six straight points and cutting the score to a one-point deficit with 6:57 on the clock.
Bell put HHS ahead 54-50 with three straight points, but again, the Lady Lions roared back with points by Justice Hattan and a three-point play by Heather Cox for a 55-54 Lady Lion lead. Cox ended with a double-double as she totaled 23 points and 15 rebounds.
"We went to a full-court press to zone in the second half to stop their path to the basket," FHS head coach Matt Hodson said. "We slowed (HHS) down in the second half and forced them to shoot more from the outside. That was the biggest change we had in the second half."[[In-content Ad]]
The lead didn't last long as Alex Stratton put HHS back in front with a jumper near the paint as she gained possession with a good-effort play from Trista Rhodes as she leaped and saved the ball from going out of bounds for a 56-55 Lady Indians lead. Rhodes led HHS with 21 points.
As FHS (1-12) missed the front end of one-and-one free-throws on a couple occasions (FHS was 4-of-9 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter), Taylor Moberly put HHS in front by four points with a timely 3-pointer, leaving 2:36 left in regulation.
Kaitlin Evans tried to bring the Lady Lions back to the top spot with free throws at the 1:37 mark, but HHS ended the game with two points by Faith Middleton and a free throw by Bell.
"The key to our improvement the past few games has been we've played more people, and they're stepping up and doing good things," Moberly said.
The first half was just as competitive as the final two frames with Haley Bobb putting FHS ahead 4-3, but HHS built a 10-4 advantage with points by Snyder, Bell, Rhodes and Britney Bowen.
Lydia Sowders (who totaled 10 points), Cox and Hattan put FHS ahead 13-12 with 3:22 left, but as what happened later in the game, HHS didn't let down as they scored five straight points with a 3-pointer from Rhodes and free throws from Bell and Moberly for a 17-13 HHS advantage.
Following points by Hattan, Rhodes and Taylor Stanforth scored points to put HHS ahead, 21-14 after the first quarter.
Cox and Stratton exchanged points to open the second frame, then it was Stratton and Heather Sanderson going basket-for-basket as the two points by Stratton put HHS ahead, 25-18.
Later in the frame, Stanforth put HHS ahead by eight points with two converted free throws, but consecutive put-back buckets from Cox made it a 29-25 score. FHS rallied again with 3:01 left in the first half as Sowders drained a 3-pointer, and by the end of the quarter, FHS trailed by three points with a free throw from Cox.
For the game, HHS committed 21 turnovers, while FHS had 22.
In the JV game, HHS won, 36-25. Leading HHS were Kristen Juillerat with 11 points and Faith Middleton with 10. FHS was led by Heather Sanderson with nine points.
HHS will play again on Wednesday as they travel to ECHS. FHS will host Fayetteville on Thursday.
The non-league win by HHS was their fourth win of the season, as they move to 4-8 overall, but they didn't gain the win due to a lack of effort by the host Lady Lions, as FHS made HHS earn and claw for a win that both teams wanted.
HHS has won two of their past three games.
"Our kids played hard, both teams played hard," Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly said. "We haven't won many close games in the past few years ... we needed to win a close game, and (Monday) we did.
"We knew we needed all eight players who were in the game to play well, and they did."
Following a very physical and competitive first half where HHS led 33-30, the start of the third frame was mostly Hillsboro as they jumped out to a 42-32 lead with points by Madison Snyder and Kaylynn Bell (who totaled 16 points), with Snyder scoring the first two points of the frame and Bell following with seven straight points with 3:27 left in the quarter.
From there, the Lady Indians held onto a lead that morphed into a 51-44 advantage at the conclusion on the frame.
In the final eight minutes, it was Fairfield who jumped out to the early lead as they forced three consecutive Hillsboro turnovers, turning those turnovers into six straight points and cutting the score to a one-point deficit with 6:57 on the clock.
Bell put HHS ahead 54-50 with three straight points, but again, the Lady Lions roared back with points by Justice Hattan and a three-point play by Heather Cox for a 55-54 Lady Lion lead. Cox ended with a double-double as she totaled 23 points and 15 rebounds.
"We went to a full-court press to zone in the second half to stop their path to the basket," FHS head coach Matt Hodson said. "We slowed (HHS) down in the second half and forced them to shoot more from the outside. That was the biggest change we had in the second half."[[In-content Ad]]
The lead didn't last long as Alex Stratton put HHS back in front with a jumper near the paint as she gained possession with a good-effort play from Trista Rhodes as she leaped and saved the ball from going out of bounds for a 56-55 Lady Indians lead. Rhodes led HHS with 21 points.
As FHS (1-12) missed the front end of one-and-one free-throws on a couple occasions (FHS was 4-of-9 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter), Taylor Moberly put HHS in front by four points with a timely 3-pointer, leaving 2:36 left in regulation.
Kaitlin Evans tried to bring the Lady Lions back to the top spot with free throws at the 1:37 mark, but HHS ended the game with two points by Faith Middleton and a free throw by Bell.
"The key to our improvement the past few games has been we've played more people, and they're stepping up and doing good things," Moberly said.
The first half was just as competitive as the final two frames with Haley Bobb putting FHS ahead 4-3, but HHS built a 10-4 advantage with points by Snyder, Bell, Rhodes and Britney Bowen.
Lydia Sowders (who totaled 10 points), Cox and Hattan put FHS ahead 13-12 with 3:22 left, but as what happened later in the game, HHS didn't let down as they scored five straight points with a 3-pointer from Rhodes and free throws from Bell and Moberly for a 17-13 HHS advantage.
Following points by Hattan, Rhodes and Taylor Stanforth scored points to put HHS ahead, 21-14 after the first quarter.
Cox and Stratton exchanged points to open the second frame, then it was Stratton and Heather Sanderson going basket-for-basket as the two points by Stratton put HHS ahead, 25-18.
Later in the frame, Stanforth put HHS ahead by eight points with two converted free throws, but consecutive put-back buckets from Cox made it a 29-25 score. FHS rallied again with 3:01 left in the first half as Sowders drained a 3-pointer, and by the end of the quarter, FHS trailed by three points with a free throw from Cox.
For the game, HHS committed 21 turnovers, while FHS had 22.
In the JV game, HHS won, 36-25. Leading HHS were Kristen Juillerat with 11 points and Faith Middleton with 10. FHS was led by Heather Sanderson with nine points.
HHS will play again on Wednesday as they travel to ECHS. FHS will host Fayetteville on Thursday.