Young scores 21 as Lady Indians battle for 1-point win over Miami Trace

HILLSBORO — The Frontier Athletic Conference game between the Hillsboro Lady Indians and the Miami Trace Lady Panthers Saturday afternoon was a game where the visiting Lady Panthers pushed Hillsboro to their limit. 

With that said, Hillsboro continued to keep second place in the conference standings by defending their home court, as they battled foul trouble and some missed chances at the free-throw line by both teams, though ultimately they gained the FAC win by a 46-45 score. 

“It is the second half of the FAC, and welcome to the second half, where everybody is ready to go after you and everybody is going to give you their best punch,” HHS head coach Heather Storer said. “We were expecting for them to throw some punches at us, and they did. To be honest with you, they landed quite a few, especially throughout the whole game, and they (MTHS) kept themselves in it.

“Their best scorers did a great job, and we didn’t do as good as shutting them down. I don’t like to make excuses in any way, shape or form, but we lost one kid to an appendix surgery this week, we had three that were out of school sick, and we had one sick yesterday (Friday), so only having 10 on the roster makes it hard when you are a little down for the court, but we are still gritty and going to fight. We aren’t going to give any of them away, and that’s what we did.”

The Saturday afternoon win by HHS — on Jan. 10 at Hillsboro — saw the Lady Indians be led in the paint with strong rebounding that led to points on the scoreboard by junior Annia Young, who finished the game with 21 points, making nine two-point baskets in the game, including five of them in the first half to help keep the Lady Indians at pace with Miami Trace. Young also finished 3-of-6 from the free-throw line. 

“Annia Young stepped up and had 21 points when they were trying to take away our best scorers in Kobie and Tylee. That’s huge,” Storer said.

Ella Jordan finished with 11 points for Hillsboro, as she made four two-point buckets and was 3-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

HHS also had seven points from Kobie Miles and five points by Tylee Davis with each gaining their fifth foul in the fourth quarter, as they are the top two leading scorers this season for the Lady Indians. Piper Wilkin finished the game with two points. As a team, HHS totaled 16 two-pointers, one 3-pointer (Miles), and they were 11-of-23 from the free-throw line. 

Then for the Lady Panthers, Gracie Lovett led the way with 21 points, tying for the game-high with Hillsboro’s Young. Lovett finished with five two-point baskets, two 3-pointers, and she was 5-of-13 from the free-throw line. 

The game began with a very strong pace of scoring by the Lady Indians, with the home team taking a 8-0 lead within the first three minutes of the game following a steal and basket by Jordan, a put-back basket by Davis and points in the paint from Young, and she followed that with two free throws at the 5:17 mark for the early eight-point lead. 

Lovett scored her first points of the game at the 4:34 mark for Miami Trace, but it was another strong battle in the paint by Young that equaled two more points and a 10-2 Lady Indians lead with 4:15 on the first quarter clock. 

Miami Trace answered with a free throw made by Lovett and a 3-pointer from Alison Reeves, but HHS came back with a trifecta by Miles, only to have a 3-pointer from Trace’s Lovett that brought the visitors back to within four points of tying the score. 

The first frame ended with HHS holding a six-point lead as the two teams continued to add to their scoring, with HHS having a 19-13 advantage when the first-quarter clock hit all zeros. 

Miami Trace outscored the Lady Indians 17-10 in the second frame to take a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime at 30-29. 

The Lady Panthers (following a basket by HHS to start the quarter) scored six straight points off 3-pointers by Reeves and Lovett, but a basket by Young — with the assist from Davis — left HHS with a 23-19 lead with 4:49 left in the quarter. 

MTHS answered with a 9-0 run off a three-point play by Lovett, a put-back bucket from Lawsihn Grooms, a steal and layup by Lovett, and a jumper with 3:03 on the clock by Myah Dato with 3:12 left in the second for a 28-23 Lady Panther lead. 

Wilkin made a free throw with 3:03 left in the second to break up the MT scoring run, but Miami Trace came back with a basket in the paint by Lovett. Young responded with a layup and free throw for Hillsboro, then the final points of the quarter were scored by Jordan for the one-point deficit at halftime. 

HHS regained the lead when the third quarter was finished, outscoring Miami Trace 13-10 in the third for a 42-40 advantage. 

Miami Trace had three points from Grooms, one point by Karleigh Cooper, four points scored by Reeves and two points scored by Lovett in the third. Hillsboro’s third quarter saw Young score six points off three baskets, four points by Miles, two points from Jordan and a free throw made by Wilkin. 

Late in the third, HHS regained the lead with two free throws from Miles to tie the score at 40 with 1:23 on the clock, and a put-back by Young pushed Hillsboro back in front at 42-40 with three seconds on the clock. 

In the early stages of the fourth, Hillsboro season-leading scorer Davis was called for her fifth foul at the 7:52 mark, but after MTHS made it a one-point score, both teams missed free-throw opportunities. Reeves pushed Miami Trace ahead at 43-42 with 3:59 left in regulation, as that play saw Hillsboro’s second-leading season scorer Miles have her fifth foul on a very close call. 

Hillsboro continued to fight for points as the two teams scored a combined nine points in the fourth frame, with Young pushing the Lady Indians back into the lead with an offensive rebound and basket in the paint with 2:32 on the clock. 

At the 1:00 mark, Jordan scored a layup for a three-point Hillsboro lead, but MTHS didn’t fold as Lovett had a steal and layup with 29 seconds remaining for a one-point MT deficit at what would end up being the final score of 46-45. 

Coach Storer spoke about where her team stands following the FAC win. 

“That’s what we’ve been working on in practice, executing on the offensive end. I think we are a pretty good defensive team. You look at what we hold teams to, and I think we are pretty good defensively, and I don’t think that’s where our issues lie,” Storer said “This time of season you want to start correcting things when you head toward the postseason, and that's what we are doing. 

“We are trying to get what we want offensively and execute, and when they take away your one and two, what can you go to? You can go to your bigs and go to your third shooter, and Ella had 11 points, which is another that is huge for us when the other two can’t get what we want, and I think that’s starting to show.” 

HHS eventually gained the win as time expired, improving their FAC record to 5-1 with an overall record of 9-4. Miami Trace now stands at 2-4 in the FAC and 4-8 overall. 

There was no JV game played. 

Next for Miami Trace is an FAC game Wednesday, Jan. 14 at home against the Jackson Ironladies (2-4, 3-10). 

Hillsboro’s next game is also Wednesday, Jan. 14 at home against the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers (0-6, 1-12). 

BOX SCORE
MTHS    13 17 10 05 — 45
HHS      19 10 13 04 — 46

HILLSBORO (46) — E.Jordan 4 (0) 3-8 11, K.Miles 1 (1) 2-2 7, T.Davis 2 (0) 1-3 5, P.Wilkin 0 (0) 2-4 2, A.Young 9 (0) 3-6 21. TOTALS: 16 (1) 11-23 46. 

MIAMI TRACE (45) — G.Lovett 5 (2) 5-13 21, A.Reeves 3 (2) 0-0 12, C.Kirkpatrick 1 (0) 0-2 2, K.Cooper 0 (0) 1-2 1, M.Deto 2 (0) 0-0 4, L.Grooms 2 (0) 1-4 5. TOTALS: 13 (4) 7-21 45. 

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