Hillsboro Christian Academy wins first home games of the season
By Colin Ryan
The Highland County Press
Hillsboro Christian Academy hosted its first home basketball game of the season Tuesday, Nov. 21. The HCA Crusaders defeated the Scioto Christian Soldiers, 57-36, in the varsity boys matchup. The Lady Crusaders defeated the Lady Soldiers, 39-13.
Leading scorers for the Crusaders were Bryson Willey with 20 points and Kellin Storer with 17 points. Cullen Payne and Xavier Vanbiber led the Soldiers in scorer with 17 and five points, respectively.
The Crusaders jumped out to an early lead against the Soldiers through their effective defensive strategy. The Crusaders held their opponents scoreless for the first four minutes of the game.
The Crusaders scored 12 points in the opening quarter while only allowing eight points. Storer led the Crusaders in scoring in the first with five points. Willey, Connor Henderson and Eddie Rhonemus accounted for the other seven points by the Crusaders.
Willey scored nine of the 14 points by the Crusaders in the second quarter. Rhonemus added two more points to give him four for the game. Joshua Baggs and Jacob Crusie each added a point shooting fifty percent from the free-throw line. The Crusaders went into the half with a 26-19 lead over the Soldiers.
The Crusaders best quarter offensively was the third quarter as they scored 24 points. Storer scored eleven of the 24 points for the Crusaders with Willey adding eight more to his total. Titus Howsman and Colten Boggess came into the game off the bench and scored the remaining five points for the Crusaders.
The fourth quarter was capped off by the Crusaders scoring seven more points, bringing their total to 57. Henderson added four points to bring his total to six on the night. Sophomore Hayden Tong came in off the bench to score two points in the game. Junior and first year player Nathan Massie drew two fouls in the fourth to put the Crusaders in the bonus.
The Crusaders improve to 2-1 on the season with the 57-36 victory over the Soldiers. The Crusaders will take on the Wilmington Christian Academy Lions on November 28.
Leading scorers for the Lady Crusaders were Kari Flowers with eleven points and Emma Korte with ten points. Gracie Ferguson and Gwynn Payne led the Lady Soldiers in scoring with eight and three points, respectively.
The Lady Crusaders started the game with an 11-00 lead over the Lady Soldiers as their defense held them scoreless for the opening quarter. Lisa VanZant scored six points in the first quarter to lead all scorers. Flowers and Korte accounted for the other five points for the Lady Crusaders.
Korte added six points to her total in the second quarter to help the Lady Crusaders extend their lead. Emma Barnett came in off the bench and scored two points for the Lady Crusaders. Annie Henderson scored two of her eight points for the game in the second quarter as the Lady Crusaders went into the half ahead 21-01.
Flowers and Henderson each scored six points in the third quarter for the Lady Crusaders. Korte added two more points to give her ten for the game. Ferguson scored six points for the Lady Soldiers in the third quarter, the teams best quarter offensively.
The Lady Crusaders finished the game adding four more points to their total, two from Flowers and two from freshman Kylee McCollum. The Lady Crusaders finished the game ahead 39-13 to give them their second win of the early season.
The Lady Crusaders improve to 2-1 on the season. The next game for the Lady Crusaders will be in the Milford Christian Bulldog Classic on Dec. 1.
Below, Emma Korte shoots over the Scioto Christian defender in the second quarter.
