Indians battle for SBAC lead in 1995

(Continued from last week.)

Hillsboro entertained Blanchester Dec. 20, 1994, thumping the Wildcats, 74-60, to stay perfect in the SBAC. Then, on Friday, Dec. 23, the red-and-white traveled to Fayette County, where they battled the Miami Trace Panthers.

Coach Thom Snyder felt that containing Trace seniors Aaron Trainer and Wes Scarberry was critical. The Indians did a respectable job, holding Trainer to 15 and Scarberry to 11.

But 6’ 4” junior pivotman Richard Burns almost totally dominated the offensive boards throughout the game, and scored 27 points.

C.J. Captain made a gallant effort to bring the Indians back in the fourth quarter, scoring 16 of the team’s 24 points in the final stanza. It was not enough.

The Panthers hung on for a tough 64-59 win. The Hillsboro team outscored their hosts from the field, but Miami Trace was 15 for 22 from the charity stripe while the Indians were 2 of 7.

Fairfield challenged the McClain Tigers on the Fairfield court Dec. 30. Most people predicted an impressive McClain win. But Fairfield Coach Everett Snyder was confidant. “We will show up for the game,” he promised.

The Lions did show up. They downed the Tigers, 77-65, in overtime. With shooting star Nathan Van Winkle pressured by the Tiger defense, junior center Tim Bragg stepped up. Bragg totaled 18 points on six field goals and six free throws.

After the annual holiday break, Hillsboro dropped a Jan. 3, 1995 battle with Washington, 82-76 when the Indians turned in a sub-par defensive effort. The Blue Lions had four scorers in double figures. Burba (29) and Captain (23) led the Indians, but nobody else did much scoring, as the Tribe absorbed a second straight loss.

A scheduled Jan. 6 SBAC home game with Western Brown was postponed due to icy road conditions until Saturday, Jan. 14.

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Tribe traveled to Williamsburg, where they failed to get their game together, and absorbed a 71-62 SBAC loss. This was the first league loss for the red and white.

C.J. Captain enjoyed a banner weekend for the Indians, scoring 29 points (including 3 three-pointers) at New Richmond on Friday night, in an exciting 71-70 New Richmond win, then coming back on Saturday night to rack up 32 points, six steals and seven assists against visiting Western Brown on the Hillsboro court.

In the New Richmond loss, the Indians went into the final quarter leading 52-45, but lost their intensity (and, their lead) in the torrid final eight minutes.

The Tribe traveled to Felicity Jan. 20, where they played excellent team basketball, spread the ball around, and took a decisive 80-72 win over the Cardinals. Captain scored 16 points, but the scoring was generally balanced. This was their best overall effort, so far.

Tuesday, Jan. 24, saw the Indians clip Clermont Northeastern, 85-78 in Hillsboro. Five of Coach Thom Snyder’s players scored in double figures and Adam McGinnis added nine. This win left the 8-5 Indians with a SBAC record of 7-2, good for first place in the league.

On Friday, Jan. 27, the Tribe would host Bethel-Tate (0-11) (0-8). The red-and-white broke the century mark for the first time in Coach Snyder’s tenure at Hillsboro, when they blasted the visitors from Clermont County, 101-53. Once again, five Indians scored in double figures while McConnaughey added eight.

Nine Hillsboro players logged significant playing time in this game, and Turner led the way with 22 points for the winners.

The Indians were scheduled at Blanchester Jan. 31. The Wildcats were 1-12 for the season and 1-7 in the SBAC. But they had several players who could shoot threes. As it turned out, only the clutch free throw shooting of Chris Fauber and Kyle McConnaughey saved the Indians from an embarrassing defeat. Blanchester, having four players scoring in double figures, jumped out to an 18-14 first quarter lead. The two teams were tied at halftime, 35-all.

Hillsboro grabbed a 54-46 advantage after three quarters, but the Wildcats came back in the final stanza and the game went down to the wire, before the Tribe pulled it out at the end by a score of 68-65.

Brian Burba was dominant in the paint, totaling 22 points and grabbing 7 rebounds. Captain added 14 points and McConnaughey had 13. In addition to his 13 points, McConnaughey contributed 6 rebounds and four assists. In spite of all that, Blanchester’s Bobby Goldie canned a three with 42 seconds remaining in the game, cutting the Indian lead to one point (66-65). With
six seconds on the clock, McConnaughey nailed both ends of a 1 and 1 to increase the lead to three as time ran out.

(Continued next week.)

Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.