Indians drop season opener to Hurricane

HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians led at the conclusion of the first quarter, but it wasn't enough to slow down the visiting Wilmington Hurricane, because once the final buzzer sounded, it was the Hurricane earning the 66-54 season-opening win over Hillsboro.

Hillsboro’s best quarter was the opening frame where they held the lead after eight minutes at 16-14, and though the Hurricane led 6-0 less than two minutes into the game, the Indians saw their first points of the season scored by junior Jack Howland with 6:12 on the clock. Howland ended the game with 21 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals. 

Later, after the Indians, again, trailed by six points, it was Howland making it a one-point game with two made free throws and a 3-pointer. 

The Hurricane built a three-point lead following a basket by senior Cam Griffith. HHS senior Mason Dumpert scored a basket at the 3:33 mark for another one-point deficit. Dumpert finished with eight points, four rebounds and one assist. 

Again, Griffith scored a basket for the ’Cane, but this time the Indians took the lead with a 3-pointer by senior Jeven Hochstuhl — who finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals — followed by a layup from Dumpert for a 14-12 lead with 2:18 left in the opening frame. 

After Wilmington tied the score at 14 with a bucket from senior Jesse Keith, the Indians led once the first frame came to a close following two free throws made by Dumpert. 

The ’Cane slowly started to gain strength in the second frame, outscoring the Indians 15-8 for a 29-24 halftime lead. 

Wilmington tied the score at 16 to start the second with a basket from junior Jayceon Kibler, but HHS battled to regain the lead with four free throws made by Howland for a 20-16 lead with 6:56 left in the second. 

The ’Cane answered with a 3-pointer from junior Gavin Derkson, but the Indians put the lead back to three with a jumper from junior Tre Captain, as he ended the game with seven points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.  

Both teams continued to answer each other with shots made by senior Stevie Rickman of WHS and Captain of the Indians for a 24-21 Hillsboro lead with 3:34 left in the quarter. 

From there, that’s when the game began to change for the host Indians, as Wilmington scored the final eight points of the second quarter off three consecutive baskets by Griffith, followed by a bucket by Kibler, who stole the ball and went to the basket with 4.9 left in the first half for a lead of 29-25. 

Wilmington increased their lead to nine points once the third quarter came to a close, leading by nine points on three occasions in the quarter, as the Indians got to within three points of the Hurricane lead with 2:19 left in the third following a basket by Dumpert. 

In the fourth quarter, it was all Wilmington as they extended their lead from nine points to as many as 15 points in the final frame, outscoring the Indians 17-14. Hillsboro’s Weston Kibler made a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. 

For the game, the Hurricane totaled 23 rebounds, nine assists, 10 steals and one block. 

The balanced scoring for the ’Cane saw them have four players with at least 10 points, as Griffith led them with 15 points, while also having six rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block. 

Also leading with 15 points was Kibler, as he added two rebounds and four steals. 

Keith totaled 13 points for WHS, plus he added seven rebounds. Derkson ended with 10 points, one rebound and one steal. 

Also with points for Wilmington were  sophomore Jude Belle-Cokes with seven points (one rebound) and Rickman with six points (three rebounds, six assists, two steals). 

The Hurricane also had junior Jared Tackett have one rebound, junior Phayden Mawyer with one steal, and senior Chase Fickert with two rebounds and two assists.

Hillsboro team totals for the game were 26 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals.

In the turnover battle, Hillsboro committed 21, and Wilmington had 10 for the game. At the free-throw line, WHS was 8-of-9, while Hillsboro was 21-of-25. 

Next for the Indians is a non-conference game Tuesday, Dec. 2 at home against the North Adams Green Devils. Wilmington also plays Tuesday, Dec. 2, as they are scheduled to host Mt. Healthy. 

BOX SCORE
WHS    14 15 20 17 — 66
HHS    16 08 16 14 — 54

WILMINGTON (66) — S.Rickman 3 (0) 0-0 6, G.Derkson 2 (1) 3-3 10, J.Keith 6 (0) 1-2 13, J.Belle-Cokes 3 (0) 1-1 7, C.Griffith 7 (0) 1-1 15, J.Kibler 5 (1) 2-2 15. TOTALS: 26 (2) 8-9 66. 

HILLSBORO (54) — M.Dumpert 3 (0) 2-2 8, W.Kibler 0 (1) 0-0 3, J.Hochstuhl 1 (2) 7-8 15, J.Howland 3 (1) 12-14 21, T.Captain 2 (1) 0-1 7. TOTALS: 9 (5) 21-25 54.