Indians lose 9-point lead in loss to Miami Trace

HILLSBORO — On three occasions Tuesday night, the Hillsboro Indians held a lead of nine points on their home court against the visiting Miami Trace Panthers.

Though the Indians had two of their nine-point leads in the third quarter, the Miami Trace Panthers didn’t back down. Rather, they chopped away at the Hillsboro squad, and in the process of getting back into the game, they eventually took the lead at the start of the fourth quarter and didn’t let up, winning by a 60-58 score over the Indians in the Frontier Athletic Conference showdown.

“I’m sure from a fan perspective it was fun, but not from [the perspective of] coaching or our players,” Hillsboro head coach Josh Howland said after the game. “It wasn't an exciting locker room environment. The boys were down.

“We're close, and I think if you look at us this time this year versus this time last year, it's like an entirely different program. I think the boys do believe, and they understand what it takes to win. I don't think we executed. We had us giving up 11 offensive boards, which to me that was probably the difference in the game, especially in the first half. Even right down the last minute and a half, we gave up an offensive rebound for them to go back up three, where if we would’ve just boxed out … It’s the little things, it always is, and we'll get there.”

The Panthers outscored the Indians 15-11 in the third frame. Hillsboro entered the fourth quarter with a 43-41 lead, but it was Miami Trace’s Brady Armstrong with the hot hand from beyond the arc that changed the tone of the game.

Armstrong hit a wide-open 3-pointer for the Panthers at the 7:23 mark of the fourth quarter, putting the Panthers in the lead by a point at 44-43, then 22 seconds later he sank another 3-pointer with 7:01 on the clock, adding the the Panthers’ lead for a 47-43 score, forcing the Indians to call a time out.

Armstrong led Miami Trace with 18 points, scoring his points in the second, third and fourth quarters.

“I was not expecting [Armstrong] to knock down six threes, and he came in and lit us up there in the third,” Howland said. “That was another big thing. We’ve got to recognize that earlier and stay on him at that point. After the second one we really should have shut him down. In the fourth quarter, I thought Steven Kibler did a good job shutting him down.”

HHS got on track in the scoring column with a free throw made by Mason Dumpert, and a layup from Dorian Stewart, who maneuvered around the MTHS defense in the paint for two points, bringing Hillsboro to a one-point deficit at 47-46 with 6:03 left in regulation.

MTHS scored the next six points from the 5:07 mark to the 3:51 mark of the fourth frame with two baskets from Adam Guthrie, and a jumper by Bryson Osborne, increasing Miami Trace’s lead to seven points. Osborne finished the game with 14 points, and teammate Guthrie totaled 12 points in the win over Hillsboro.

Stewart — who led Hillsboro with 19 points — kept the Indians in the game with a behind the back, one-handed shot at the 2:55 mark, but the Panthers answered with a bucket from Guthrie for a 55-51 score with 2:43 left on the fourth-quarter clock, as the Panthers called a timeout.

Howland spoke about the play of Stewart against Guthrie, who is 6-foot-7.

“I think Dorian more than did his part of balancing out them having a kid who’s 6-7, and not only 6-7, but his shoulders are broad,” Howland said. “Dorian was able to get him 15 feet from the basket and then attack him and score and really taking him out of the game. If anything, he made it our advantage by having [Guthrie] in the game because when they would sub in, actually they kind of matched up better speed wise with Dorian.”

Following the break in play, Jack Howland of Hillsboro — who totaled 12 points — connected with a 3-pointer, getting the Indians back to within a point of the Panthers with just over two minutes left in the game. The Panthers, again, came back with a basket by Osborne with 1:05 left in regulation, putting MTHS back in front by three points at 57-54.

Around 20 seconds later — and a timeout by the Panthers — Hillsboro’s Steven Kibler scored a basket with an assist from Tate Davis.

Following more timeouts and and offensive foul called on Hillsboro, giving possession to Miami Trace with 14.5 on the clock, Osborne was fouled, and he made both free throw attempts, lifting the Panthers to a three-point lead at 59-56.

The Indians scored a quick basket in the paint by Kibler with 4.2 left in the game, but the Indians were forced to foul, and Osborne put MTHS ahead by two points with a free-throw conversion.

HHS regained possession with 2.9 left in the game, but didn’t get off a clean last-shot attempt, falling to Miami Trace by two points.

The opening quarter saw the Indians finish with a four-point lead over Miami Trace as the 14 points consisted of two baskets by Howland, two baskets by Stewart as each player scored four points in the first frame, plus Kibler and Davis each scored three points in the first quarter, with Davis’ points coming off a 3-pointer. Davis finished the game with 15 points, all in the first half.

Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley was complimentary of Hillsboro’s players, especially of Davis, after the game.

“Their personnel is as good as it gets as far as being able to do multiple things,” Ackley said. “They can play with the ball, they can play off the ball. They're very smart. I thought [Davis] was huge tonight. He always plays well against us. He's kind of undersized for a post player, but I saw him windmill dunk in warm-ups and I knew he was feeling good. With his footwork and stuff, he reminds me of a Gonzaga post player. You know, he'll do the triple pivot on you, he's very patient. He's unbelievable. My guys, I'm not taking anything away from them, but Tate’s as good as any player in this league, and mark that down.
 
“Their guards are really good. They're so well coached. We knew it'd be tough. We did limit their shots. The freshman guard [Jack Howland] didn't get a ton of good looks, but when he did, he made us pay. I thought he attacked the rim really well in the first half, put us in some vulnerable positions. Tate’s just Tate. He's got a lot on his plate. He had a few shots that were a little short that were right on target, and I've never been more nervous to see a guy shoot one from 75 feet in my life because we watched him against Jackson do it.”

Miami Trace in the first frame had a five-point effort from Guthrie, and two points each by Grant Guess, Coledon May and Austin Boedeker.

The Panthers in the second quarter scored 16 points with Armstrong sinking three 3-pointers, while Osborne scored five points (one 3-pointer) and Guess had a two-point basket.

Hillsboro’s second frame saw Davis score 12 of their 18 points with two 3-pointers, two two-point baskets and he was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Also for HHS in the second, Stewart added four points and Brayden Hunter scored two points.

HHS had an 11-point third frame where Stewart scored four points, Howland had five points (one 3-pointer) and Kibler scored two points.

Miami Trace added 15 points to their total in the third, with both Guthrie and Skye Salyers scoring four points. Armstrong connected with his fourth 3-pointer at the time (he finished with six 3-pointers), and two points each were scored by May and Guess.

Other final scoring totals for Miami Trace included: Guess (6), May (4), Salyers (4) and Boedeker (2).

More HHS final totals included Kibler with nine points, Hunter with two points and Dumpert with one point.

The win lifts Miami Trace to 3-0 in the FAC and 3-2 overall. Hillsboro falls to 1-1 in the FAC and 2-1 overall.

Hillsboro plays again on Friday, Dec. 15 as they will host the Chillicothe Cavaliers (1-2, 1-3) in FAC action.

Miami Trace is scheduled to play again on Friday, Dec. 15 in a FAC game against the Jackson Ironmen (1-2, 2-3).

BOX SCORE
MTHS 10 16 15 19 — 60
HHS    14 18 11 15 — 58

MIAMI TRACE (60) — G.Guess 3 (0) 0-0 6, C.May 2 (0) 0-0 4, B.Armstrong 0 (6) 0-0 18, S.Salyers 2 (0) 0-0 4, A.Boedeker 1 (0) 0-0 2, A.Guthrie 5 (0) 2-3 12, B.Osborne 4 (1) 3-4 14. TOTALS: 17 (7) 5-7 60.

HILLSBORO (58) — M.Dumpert 0 (0) 1-2 1, T.Davis 2 (3) 2-2 15, B.Hunter 1 (0) 0-0 2, S.Kibler 4 (0) 1-1 9, J.Howland 3 (2) 0-1 12, D.Stewart 9 (0) 1-3 19. TOTALS: 19 (5) 5-9 58.