Indians gain 24-point win over rival Tigers

GREENFIELD — Playing to a difference of just nine points in the first half, the McClain Tigers and Hillsboro Indians battled close on the scoreboard for the first 16 minutes of game time in their Frontier Athletic Conference contest Saturday night (Dec. 23), but that changed in the second half. 

In the final 16 minutes of game action, the Indians went from a nine-point lead at halftime to eventually winning by a 55-31 score to secure the FAC win, outscoring the host Tigers, 26-10 in the final two quarters. 

“We didn't [win] last year, and we felt like we made up for it this year. We kind of let them hang around that first half, which hats off to them, they came out and played their guts out. They played hard, because we felt like in the third quarter we kind of asserted some dominance,” Hillsboro head coach Josh Howland said. “I think we held them to two points that third quarter. Eight points in the fourth was a little more than what we wanted to give up, but we'll take it — 10 points in the second half, we’ll take it.”

The competitive first quarter saw McClain score the first points of the game scored by Seth Weller, only to see the Indians score the next four points off a steal and points in the paint by Tate Davis, followed by four consecutive points scored by Jack Howland. 

Weller came back with two more points off a layup, but a jumper by Davis, followed by a 3-pointer from Davis, plus an off-balanced shot by Howland, left the Indians ahead by nine points at 13-4 with 2:32 left in the first quarter. 

The Tigers had an answer, scoring the next eight of 10 points in the frame, as Andrew Potts made the score 13-6, but HHS answered with a fast-break basket by Davis. MHS ended the first quarter with a 6-0 run (a part of the eight of final 10 scored) with two 3-pointers by Weller, including one at the buzzer for the 15-12 deficit, as Hillsboro held on to the lead. 

“We got down to 15-6, and by the time we had fixed things, we struggled to score. We want to get up six or eight points because we know they're going to trap us. We’ve got to be better defensively, and they’ve got kids that score,” McClain head coach Michael Noszka said. “ We just told the kids ‘hey, we’ve got to get better individually and collectively.’ I mean, when you're struggling a bit and losing games, there's no simple answer. The answer is everybody's got to get a little bit better. If everybody gets a little bit better on a daily basis and practice, we will all get better.

“We don't have a ton of scorers on our team. It could be one guy one game, another guy another day. We all have to get better at shooting the basketball. We’ve had open shots the last two games, but we’ve got to knock them down.”

Hillsboro outscored McClain 14-9 in the second quarter for the 29-21 halftime lead. HHS led by as many as 11 points, before MHS came back to make it a nine-point halftime deficit. Starting the second, the Tigers cut Hillsboro’s lead to one point at 15-14 following a basket by Potts, but HHS came back with a surge of scoring, netting the next seven points in the game for an eight-point lead with around 3:00 left in the first half. 

The 7-0 run by the Indians started at the 6:56 mark with a basket in the paint by Kibler, followed by a 3-pointer from Brayden Hunter, and with around 3:00 left in the quarter, Davis connected with a jumper. 

Potts responded for the Tigers with a basket, but the Indians, using defense with a steal at mid-court by Davis, scored two points off a fast-break basket for a 24-16 lead. HHS added two more points when Dorian Stewart scored points off an inbounds play, but the Tigers came back with two points by Owen Sykes, leaving the Hillsboro lead at eight points (26-18) with 35 seconds left in the second quarter.

Hillsboro and McClain exchanged baskets to end the second with Howland making a 3-pointer, then Michael Noszka Jr. also making a 3-pointer, to end the quarter for the 29-21 HHS advantage. 

The difference of the game was the third quarter as it was mostly dominated by the Indians, outscoring the Tigers 17-2 in the quarter, with Hillsboro taking a 46-23 lead.

HHS opened the third with a 9-0 run including points from Davis, Kibler and Stewart, as Davis had five points in that span (including a 3-pointer), while Kibler scored two points on a lob pass from Davis. Stewart’s points were scored off a jumper at the 3:22 mark to put the Indians ahead 38-21.

McClain’s Jordan Bell broke the run up with a basket for the Tigers, only to see Kibler net the end three points, including the two-point basket scored on a fast break where Davis had the assist with a behind-the-back pass. Howland continued the second scoring run — this time another 9-0 run – with a 3-pointer. 

As HHS was adding points, the Tigers’ had issues with a double technical foul called on a player and the bench, leading to Howland making two of four shots from the free-throw line, with Hillsboro ending the quarter with a 46-23 lead.

The final eight minutes saw the Indians outscore the Tigers, 9-8 for the 24-point win. 

“We preach defense, but you've got to have the offense, too,” Howland said. “The defense is stepping up, and we feel like that's a cultural thing that’s starting to change at Hillsboro. We're starting to understand, so we're getting on track, and also the commitment to get better on offense is changing as well. We're pleased with the community and the buy-in that we’re getting from the athletes.

“We had the rebounds, Dorian’s got a great move inside, and Kibler’s got a nice jump shot, so hopefully we can continue to build on that.”

McClain in the fourth quarter had two points each from Noszka Jr., Riley Cummins, Bell and Jayden Allison. 

The Indians’ nine points in the fourth frame were scored by Davis (three), Kibler (two), Howland (two) and Stewart (one). 

Davis led the Indians with 22 points, followed by Howland with 16 points. Also for HHS, final scoring included Kibler (nine), Stewart (five) and Hunter (three). 

For McClain, Weller led the team with 10 points, followed by Potts with six points and Noszka Jr. with five points. The remainder of the McClain scoring were Cummins (two), Bell (four), Sykes (two) and Allison (two). 

The win lifts the Indians to an overall record of 6-1 with a FAC mark of 3-1. The Tigers fall to 0-5 in the FAC and 1-6 overall. 

McClain plays again on Wednesday, Dec. 27 at home against the Adena Warriors in non-conference play. 

The Indians will next play on Wednesday, Jan. 3 on the road in a non-conference game against the Eastern Warriors. 

BOX SCORE
HHS    15 14 17 09 — 55
MHS    12 09 02 08 — 31

HILLSBORO (55) — T.Davis 7 (2) 2-2 22, B.Hunter 0 (1) 0-0 3, S.Kibler 4 (0) 1-2 9, J.Howland 2 (2) 6-8 16, D.Stewart 2 (0) 1-2 5. TOTALS: 15 (5) 10-14 55.

MCCLAIN (31) — M.Noszka Jr. 0 (1) 2-2 5, R.Cummins 1 (0) 0-0 2, J.Bell 2 (0) 0-0 4, S.Weller 2 (2) 0-0 10, O.Sykes 1 (0) 0-0 2, J.Allison 0 (0) 2-2 2, A.Potts 3 (0) 0-0 6. TOTALS: 9 (3) 4-4 31.