Inman sinks late 3-pointer for Hillsboro win over Lynchburg-Clay

DODSONVILLE —  With Hillsboro trailing by one point following a timeout with 23.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter on the road against the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs, the Indians looked to jump into the lead in the final seconds as they were looking to gain their first win of the season. 

Playing a very tough schedule since the season began, the Indians have been through many hard battles, and Tuesday night against Highland County rival Lynchburg-Clay wasn’t any different. 

Being on the road and calling a timeout after getting the ball past half-court, Hillsboro head coach Josh Howland had a huddle with his team, and that’s where the game play was decided as it was ultimately executed with an inbounds pass from the baseline by senior Mason Dumpert to junior Jack Howland who then found wide-open teammate, sophomore Easton Inman, at the top of the key for a 3-pointer with 17.7 seconds left on the clock, putting the Indians in the lead for good. 

LCHS missed their opportunity to retake the lead with a shot of their own, and after Howland made the rebound, he put the Indians up three points with two made free throws for the final 52-49 score. 

Inman finished the game with eight points, as five of his points were scored in the fourth quarter, plus he made his first 3-pointer of the game in the third frame. 

Howland led the Indians and all scorers with 29 points, finishing with seven two-point baskets, three 3-pointers and he was 6-of-9 from the free-throw line.

“It is good to get that first win, now it’s like let’s right the ship and keep things going, but you've got to start with the first win, right,” HHS head coach Josh Howland said following the Indians’ first win of the season. 

“That’s one thing that anyone who has watched us knows is they know we don’t give up. They played hard all the way through, they practiced hard every day, and with the schedule it is kind of hard to keep that mindset that we are going to have winnable games. We thought every game was winnable, so it is nice to get on the winning side of things. It was nice to see role players step up and hit some big shots.

“I’m excited for the team,” Howland continued. “I’m excited for Easton Inman, he shot well for us. He did some little things for us that aren't in the stat column, so I’m super impressed with him tonight.”

Lynchburg-Clay was led in scoring by senior Denver Clinton with 20 points, finishing the game with nine two-point buckets and he went 2-of-5 from the free-throw line. 

No quarter played had more than a three-point scoring differential once it was completed, with Hillsboro leading 11-9 after the first quarter, and at halftime the scoreboard read Lynchburg-Clay in front at 24-23. After the third frame it was LCHS leading the Indians 38-36, and when the final buzzer sounded to end the game the Indians led by three points. 

Lynchburg-Clay began the game with the first three points following a free throw from Clinton, and then he later added two points with a layup. Hillsboro’s first points on the board came with 5:14 on the clock off a basket by Howland, and they took their first lead of the game with a bucket scored by Brady Juillerat. Following another basket by Clinton, the Indians built a four-point lead with five straight points from Jeven Hochstuhl, including a 3-pointer for a 9-5 advantage. Hochstuhl ended the game with nine points in three quarters. 

The deficit ended up being just two points for LCHS when the first quarter finished as Trevor Niehaus made a two-point basket for the Mustangs, and after a basket by Howland, the Mustangs finished the quarter scoring with the final two points for the aforementioned 11-9 score. 

There were four tied scores in the second quarter at 11, 13, 15 and 19 points, The 19-19 score came with 2:28 left in the first half as Tanner Roberts sank a basket, and just before that shot it was Howland putting the Indians in the lead with a 3-pointer at the 2:45 mark. Roberts finished the game with five points. 

LCHS broke the tied score with a 3-pointer from Harley Lewis, and as the quarter wound down the Indians had four points from Howland (including a 3-pointer), while LCHS had a basket from Clinton, leaving the Mustangs in front at 24-23 at halftime. 

LCHS started the third frame with a free throw each made by Clinton and Roberts, but the Indians tied the score at 26 with a 3-pointer from Hochstuhl at the 6:12 mark of the third. 

The two teams continued to go nearly basket-for-basket with the lead not going any higher than three points following a fastbreak basket from Tre Captain with 2:57 on the clock, putting HHS in front. 

“Tre is a high-level athlete, his speed, and his timing of not just his speed, but his jump to get rebounds,” Howland said. “He has athleticism you can’t coach. He’s got drive, and he wanted to guard (Roberts) so it worked out pretty good and I thought he did a nice job.” 

LC’s Niehaus — who ended the game with 10 points — tied the score at 33 with a free throw at 2:53 and then a layup at the 2:10 mark of the quarter. 

HHS took back the lead at 36-33 with a 3-pointer from Inman, only to have the Mustangs regain the lead as the third quarter concluded with a three-point play by Lewis for a tied score of 36, and then a 38-36 lead to end the frame following a basket by Clinton. Lewis totaled six points for the Mustangs. 

The close battle continued in the fourth quarter as LCHS jumped out to a four-point lead with a bucket by Clinton, but then came a run of seven consecutive points by Hillsboro with a basket by Dumpert, then a jumper and three-point play from Howland for a 43-40 score. 

The two teams continued to battle, including Inman making an impressive shot for two points, sending the ball over the heads of defenders and through the hoop. Clinton answered with a basket of his own for LCHS, and later he tied the score at 45 following a rebound and jumper with 2:32 left in the fourth frame. 

Hillsboro regained the lead with a tough jumper made by Howland, but a free throw from Niehaus, and later a basket by Elam Faust with 1:10 remaining in the game put the Mustangs back into the lead at 47-46. Faust finished the game with eight points off four baskets (one in each quarter). 

After timeouts and a turnover, the Mustangs eventually stood at the free-throw line and added a point to their total with a free throw made by Roberts with 41.9 left in the quarter. 

HHS called their final timeout with 23.9 on the clock, came up with a play and it worked to perfection as the aforementioned second 3-pointer made by Inman made a lasting impact, as it put the Indians ahead 50-49 with 17.7. Then came the previously mentioned free throws by Howland that gave HHS a final lead of three points and their first win of the season. 

“We just needed to make a few more plays, and I thought their kids (Inman) hit a big three, and that’s maybe something he hasn’t done a lot of this year. The kid stepped up, swung the momentum their way and hats off to him,” LCHS head coach Kyle Pertuset said. “I thought Howland hit a lot of difficult shots too, and I felt like we did a decent job guarding him, but he made a lot of contested shots. 

“That’s part of it, now you either inflate or deflate after a game like this. Nobody likes to lose games, but you have to respond and get ready for the next one.” 

Other final scoring totals for the Indians included two points each from Juillerat, Dumpert and Captain.

Hillsboro team totals included 12 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers, and they were 7-of-11 from the free-throw line. LCHS finished with 19 two-point baskets, one 3-pointer, and they were 8-of-18 in their free-throw attempts. 

Coach Howland spoke about using his defense to set up the offense.

“We talked a lot about that (using defense to set up offense) because we are challenged somewhat offensively, so a lot of times life is about effort, and a lot of times if you put forth the effort things usually work out for you,” Howland said. “We had missed opportunities as far as throwing the ball down the floor and attacking when we had numbers, and there is still room for improvement, but we are headed in the right direction.”

The win gives the Indians an overall record of 1-8 this season, while the Mustangs are now 3-5 overall. 

Next for the Indians is a game on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the Chad Hodson Classic at Fairfield High School as they’ll face the Western Brown Broncos at 6 p.m. at Grandle Gymnasium. 

The LC Mustangs will also next play on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the Chad Hodson Classic as they are scheduled to face Eastern Pike at 12:45 p.m. at Grandle Gymnasium. 

BOX SCORE
HHS      11 12 13 16 — 52
LCHS    09 15 14 11 — 49

HILLSBORO (52) — B.Juillerat 1 (0) 0-0 2, M.Dumpert 1 (0) 0-0 2, J.Hochstuhl 1 (2) 1-2 9, J.Howland 7 (3) 6-9 29, T.Captain 1 (0) 0-0 2, E.Inman 1 (2) 0-0 8. TOTALS: 12 (7) 7-11 52. 

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (49) — E.Faust 4 (0) 0-0 8, L.Barnett 0 (0) 0-2 0, T.Niehaus 4 (0) 2-4 10, T.Roberts 1 (0) 3-6 5, D.Clinton 9 (0) 2-5 20, H.Lewis 1 (1) 1-1 6. TOTALS: 19 (1) 8-18 49.