Hillsboro loses road game to Warriors

MACON — Following a 10-day holiday break from in-game action, the Hillsboro Indians and Eastern Warriors squared off in a non-conference battle between two teams with records above the .500 mark for the season. 

By the time the game ended on Wednesday night at Eastern High School, the Warriors had outscored the visiting Indians 56-47, sending the Indians to their second loss of the season. 

“I hate to blame a layoff because we came in and practiced,” Hillsboro head coach Josh Howland said. “We took off Christmas and New Year's Day, obviously, but we were in the gym most every day working hard. 

“We’d watched [Eastern] play, we’d scouted them heavy, and I think the boys thought that we were just going to come out and just outplay them just by skill, and it doesn’t work that way. [Eastern] wanted it more.”

The Indians led by a 19-18 score when the first quarter wrapped up, as it was Tate Davis who had the hot hand for the Indians, making three 3-pointers in the quarter, coming at the 4:07, 3:29 and 2:23 marks of the first frame, with the last 3-pointer putting the Indians ahead 13-9.

Also in the first frame for the Indians, Jack Howland connected with two baskets, while Steven Kibler and Dorian Stewart each scored two points in the frame. 

For the Warriors in the same opening quarter, they had 3-pointers from Landon Koehler, Wyatt Haupt and Drew Edmisten. The final part of the first quarter saw Eastern go from trailing by a 17-12 score to only down by a point at 19-18, as they outscored Hillsboro 6-2 in the final 59 seconds of the quarter. 

The Warriors took a 31-28 halftime lead after they scored 13 points in the second frame, while holding the Indians to nine points in the same eight minutes of in-game action. Eastern took the lead at the start of the second quarter with a 3-pointer from Edmisten, but HHS quickly regained the top spot with a basket by Howland and a 3-pointer from Davis for a 24-21 score in favor of HHS with 5:57 on the clock. 

The two teams continued to battle as the Warriors regained the lead with a 3-pointer at the 2:16 mark, only to see HHS tie the score at 28 with a jumper from Davis, leaving 1:27 left in the quarter. Eastern ended the second frame scoring with a 3-pointer with 1:15 left on the scoreboard for the 31-28 advantage. 

In that second frame, Edmisten scored eight points with two 3-pointers, and Kade Walkup also connected with a 3-pointer for the Warriors. Luke Henley had two points for the Warriors in the second frame. 

HHS saw Davis score five points, while Kibler and Howland each added two points, in the second. 

The Indians trailed 44-39 after the third quarter was completed, seeing the score tied twice, including early on at 31-31 following a Davis 3-pointer – his fifth of the game – with 7:36 left in the quarter. Later, the score was tied at 36 when Kibler made a free throw with 2:55 left in the quarter. 

Hillsboro’s third frame also had four total points scored by Kibler, and Howland totaled five points in the third, including a 3-pointer with 2:21 left on the clock.

Eastern won the third frame at 13-11 with the Warriors going 5-of-5 from the free-throw line in the quarter, as Haupt was 4-of-4. Also in the third frame for EHS, Henley scored two points, and Pryce Murphy scored seven points. 

The Warriors kept control of the lead for the entire fourth quarter with 12 points added to their total. Edmisten scored five points in the quarter (including a 3-pointer), four points by Henley and three points from Walkup. 

“I thought our biggest problem was lack of focus,” Howland said. “Our lack of communication on defense was a big deal. [The Warriors] were getting wide-open shots, and hats off, I thought they played well. We know they're well coached, and [Rob Beucler] had them ready.” 

Hillsboro’s eight-point fourth quarter included five points from Howland off a 3-pointer and two-point basket, plus a 3-pointer from Brayden Hunter. 

In all for the Indians, they totaled 10 two-point baskets, eight 3-pointers and they were 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. 

Davis led with 17 points, followed by Howland with 15 points. The rest of the final scoring for HHS included Kibler (8), Hunter (3), Nic Burns (2) and Stewart (2). 

Eastern was led by Edmisten with 20 points, making four 3-pointers, three two-point baskets and two free throws on two attempts. 

Henley finished with 10 points for the Warriors, and the remaining final scoring for EHS was: Carson McCord (8), Murphy (7), Walkup (6), Koehler (3) and Braxton Vance (2). 

The loss moves Hillsboro’s overall record to 6-2 overall. Eastern moves to 7-3 overall. 

Hillsboro is scheduled to play again on Saturday, Jan. 6 vs. Adena at Fairfield High School in the second annual Chad Hodson Classic. Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m. 

BOX SCORE
HHS    19 09 11 08 — 47
EHS    18 13 13 12 — 56

EASTERN (56) — K.Walkup 1 (1) 1-2 6, L.Koehler 0 (1) 0-0 3, W.Haupt 0 (1) 5-6 8, D.Edmisten 3 (4) 2-2 20, L.Hanley 4 (0) 2-3 10, B.Vance 1 (0) 0-0 2, P.Murphy 3 (0) 1-1 7. TOTALS: 12 (7) 11-14 56. 

HILLSBORO (47) — T.Davis 1 (5) 0-0 17, B.Hunter 0 (1) 0-0 3, S.Kibler 3 (0) 2-4 8, N.Burns 1 (0) 0-0 2, J.Howland 4 (2) 1-2 15, D.Stewart 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 10 (8) 3-6 47.