Indians claim co-SCOL championship; defeat Red Raiders WATCH THE VIDEO
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians have claimed their share of the South Central Ohio League championship.
For the first time since the 1989-90 season, Hillsboro can say their boys basketball team are co-champions of the SCOL, sharing the title with the Miami Trace Panthers. The SCOL disbanded for 10 seasons and reformed in 2003.
To get the championship, the Indians controlled the paint and converted many second-chance opportunities for a 48-37 SCOL win over the London Red Raiders, Friday night at Hillsboro High School.
Not to mention the HHS defense held all London players to single digits in scoring.
Once the final buzzer sounded, fans of the Tribe flooded the floor to celebrate with the team for their long-awaited championship.
"I told the guys in the locker room that now they know what it feels like to be a champion," HHS head coach Tim Davis said. "To see all of our fans and parents out there on the floor after the game, excited … and all our students proud to be a part of Hillsboro, that's a great feeling.
"Now that we have experienced that, that needs to motivate them to try to continue to do it again and again."
In order for the Indians to cut down the nets following the game, they had a tough battle on their hands, including a first quarter where they led 10-6 following the frame, thanks in large part to senior Eli Hogsett, as he and his fellow seniors were honored before the game.
HHS began the game with all five seniors in the starting lineup, and it was Hogsett who scored the first six points of the game with points in the paint, followed with inside points by senior Caleb Wilson, who put HHS up 8-0 with 4:16 left in the quarter. Later in the quarter, Hogsett put the Indians up 10-2 with his third put-back basket.
The Indians, known for their 3-point shot ability, didn't make a single shot from beyond the arc in the game, Friday.
"If you told me we would have won by 11 points and not make a three, I would have not believed it," Davis said. "We did a much better job in the second half of moving the basketball inside. Our 2-3 zone worked extremely well. We did a good job of stopping the basketball."
Hogsett led all scorers with a game-high 17 points, scoring 10 in the first half.
At the start of the second, Tyrand Cumberland scored off an inbounds pass from Devante Ames, giving HHS a 12-6 advantage. Cumberland scored again for the Indians, this time powering his way to the basket for a HHS lead of 14-8. Cumberland finished with eight points, six points in the second quarter.
But following Cumberland's bucket, the Red Raiders scored a fury of points, tying the game at 16 with 3:22 left in the second when Seth Wingo sank a 3-pointer.
Cumberland helped the Indians regain the lead with two free throws, and HHS followed with six of the final eight points of the first half, including a put-back basket at the buzzer by Chase Gilliland, for a HHS lead of 24-18. Gilliland wrapped up the game with eight points.
HHS led by seven points after the third frame at 37-30, and it started with a free throw from Hogsett for a 25-18 lead by HHS.
Gilliland, who unofficially had a team-high 13 rebounds, gave HHS a 27-20 lead with 6:25 left in the third. For the game, HHS out-rebounded the Red Raiders 31-25, while committing just seven turnovers, six in the first half. LHS committed 14 turnovers.
"Our defensive rebounding was huge," Davis said. "I think Chase had five or six defensive rebounds that were huge. Dow [Kiefer] also had some big defensive rebounds. Our defensive rebounds out of the zone were the key to our success."
Hogsett came back with three points combined on two different trips down the court, and senior Dow Kiefer put HHS up 32-24 with 3:03 left in the frame.
With LHS threatening after back-to-back buckets, senior Aric Carroll converted a three-point play with 19.2 seconds remaining in the quarter for a Indian lead of 37-28. Carroll tallied seven points, finishing 3-for-5 from the free-throw line.
In the fourth, HHS continued to keep their lead, passing the ball and playing keep-away with the Red Raiders. Ames scored a basket around the 5:00 mark of the fourth to lift HHS to a six-point lead at 39-33.
Though HHS kept the lead, they went over a quarter without making a jumper as they dominated the boards with their second-chance opportunities. Ames broke that streak with a jumper at the 3:38 mark of the fourth. That shot, along with a free throw from Carroll in the previous possession and baskets by Gilliland and Cumberland, pushed the HHS lead to 13 with 2:54 left in the game.
Leading LHS in scoring were Wingo, Dylan Follrod and Antonio Wilson with eight points each.
The win is also the final home game for seniors Dow Kiefer, Daniel Hicks, Eli Hogsett, Aric Carroll and Caleb Wilson.
"My hat goes off to all of our seniors. Eli put the team on his back at the start, and his energy led us the entire game," Davis said.
HHS stands at 13-7 overall as they head into the Division II SE District Sectional tournament. HHS will face cross-county and SCOL rival McClain. On Friday, the Tigers lost to the Washington Blue Lions in their final SCOL game by a score of 47-43 in Washington C.H. The sectional game will be on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at Southeastern High School at 8 p.m.
In the freshman game, HHS defeated London, 53-42. Leading HHS were Jordan Captain and Wes Sears with 10 points each. Alex Branscome scored eight points for HHS.
In JV play, HHS fell to LHS, 44-41. Leading HHS was Christian Cundiff with 15 points and Blake Brown with 11.[[In-content Ad]]
For the first time since the 1989-90 season, Hillsboro can say their boys basketball team are co-champions of the SCOL, sharing the title with the Miami Trace Panthers. The SCOL disbanded for 10 seasons and reformed in 2003.
To get the championship, the Indians controlled the paint and converted many second-chance opportunities for a 48-37 SCOL win over the London Red Raiders, Friday night at Hillsboro High School.
Not to mention the HHS defense held all London players to single digits in scoring.
Once the final buzzer sounded, fans of the Tribe flooded the floor to celebrate with the team for their long-awaited championship.
"I told the guys in the locker room that now they know what it feels like to be a champion," HHS head coach Tim Davis said. "To see all of our fans and parents out there on the floor after the game, excited … and all our students proud to be a part of Hillsboro, that's a great feeling.
"Now that we have experienced that, that needs to motivate them to try to continue to do it again and again."
In order for the Indians to cut down the nets following the game, they had a tough battle on their hands, including a first quarter where they led 10-6 following the frame, thanks in large part to senior Eli Hogsett, as he and his fellow seniors were honored before the game.
HHS began the game with all five seniors in the starting lineup, and it was Hogsett who scored the first six points of the game with points in the paint, followed with inside points by senior Caleb Wilson, who put HHS up 8-0 with 4:16 left in the quarter. Later in the quarter, Hogsett put the Indians up 10-2 with his third put-back basket.
The Indians, known for their 3-point shot ability, didn't make a single shot from beyond the arc in the game, Friday.
"If you told me we would have won by 11 points and not make a three, I would have not believed it," Davis said. "We did a much better job in the second half of moving the basketball inside. Our 2-3 zone worked extremely well. We did a good job of stopping the basketball."
Hogsett led all scorers with a game-high 17 points, scoring 10 in the first half.
At the start of the second, Tyrand Cumberland scored off an inbounds pass from Devante Ames, giving HHS a 12-6 advantage. Cumberland scored again for the Indians, this time powering his way to the basket for a HHS lead of 14-8. Cumberland finished with eight points, six points in the second quarter.
But following Cumberland's bucket, the Red Raiders scored a fury of points, tying the game at 16 with 3:22 left in the second when Seth Wingo sank a 3-pointer.
Cumberland helped the Indians regain the lead with two free throws, and HHS followed with six of the final eight points of the first half, including a put-back basket at the buzzer by Chase Gilliland, for a HHS lead of 24-18. Gilliland wrapped up the game with eight points.
HHS led by seven points after the third frame at 37-30, and it started with a free throw from Hogsett for a 25-18 lead by HHS.
Gilliland, who unofficially had a team-high 13 rebounds, gave HHS a 27-20 lead with 6:25 left in the third. For the game, HHS out-rebounded the Red Raiders 31-25, while committing just seven turnovers, six in the first half. LHS committed 14 turnovers.
"Our defensive rebounding was huge," Davis said. "I think Chase had five or six defensive rebounds that were huge. Dow [Kiefer] also had some big defensive rebounds. Our defensive rebounds out of the zone were the key to our success."
Hogsett came back with three points combined on two different trips down the court, and senior Dow Kiefer put HHS up 32-24 with 3:03 left in the frame.
With LHS threatening after back-to-back buckets, senior Aric Carroll converted a three-point play with 19.2 seconds remaining in the quarter for a Indian lead of 37-28. Carroll tallied seven points, finishing 3-for-5 from the free-throw line.
In the fourth, HHS continued to keep their lead, passing the ball and playing keep-away with the Red Raiders. Ames scored a basket around the 5:00 mark of the fourth to lift HHS to a six-point lead at 39-33.
Though HHS kept the lead, they went over a quarter without making a jumper as they dominated the boards with their second-chance opportunities. Ames broke that streak with a jumper at the 3:38 mark of the fourth. That shot, along with a free throw from Carroll in the previous possession and baskets by Gilliland and Cumberland, pushed the HHS lead to 13 with 2:54 left in the game.
Leading LHS in scoring were Wingo, Dylan Follrod and Antonio Wilson with eight points each.
The win is also the final home game for seniors Dow Kiefer, Daniel Hicks, Eli Hogsett, Aric Carroll and Caleb Wilson.
"My hat goes off to all of our seniors. Eli put the team on his back at the start, and his energy led us the entire game," Davis said.
HHS stands at 13-7 overall as they head into the Division II SE District Sectional tournament. HHS will face cross-county and SCOL rival McClain. On Friday, the Tigers lost to the Washington Blue Lions in their final SCOL game by a score of 47-43 in Washington C.H. The sectional game will be on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at Southeastern High School at 8 p.m.
In the freshman game, HHS defeated London, 53-42. Leading HHS were Jordan Captain and Wes Sears with 10 points each. Alex Branscome scored eight points for HHS.
In JV play, HHS fell to LHS, 44-41. Leading HHS was Christian Cundiff with 15 points and Blake Brown with 11.[[In-content Ad]]