Indians fend off Ironmen rallies; advance to sectional final
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
CHILLICOTHE — At times, the Hillsboro Indians had to fight off tough charges by the Jackson Ironmen, but the Tribe did enough to advance to the sectional final, as they defeated the Ironmen, 55-42.
The Division II SE District sectional semifinal win by the Indians didn't start off as planned for the home team on the scoreboard at Southeastern High School, as HHS trailed early by a 12-4 score with 2:05, but the Indians were able to rally and battle to take the lead in the second quarter and never lost the lead for the remainder of the postseason contest.
"We're happy to get out of here with a win," HHS head coach Brett Prince said. "We came out flat, they didn't. We pressured, and when we can spread the floor, our chances are better.
"I told our guys to let our defense score for us. They took Jarrod (Hart) out of the game, and hats off to them, they made us go to our third and fourth option. I'm proud we held on and played hard. We have to make sure we don't let teams hang around."
JHS (1-22) built a 12-4 advantage in the first with jumpers, free throws and two 3-pointers, while HHS scored their first points from Jordan Captain. Captain ended the game with 10 points.
As HHS (10-13) trailed by eight points, they ended the final 35 seconds with six straight points as Trey Moberly scored off a steal and layup, then again on another layup. That was followed with points by Jarrod Hart, who was double-teamed for a majority of the game, as he scored off the steal seconds later to bring HHS within two points by the end of the opening quarter.
Hart led HHS with 15 points, scoring eight in the first half.
In a game of rallies by both teams, HHS tied the game at 12, then took their first lead of the game with consecutive 3-pointers by Austin Bagshaw and Hart for a 18-12 advantage with 5:46 left in the first half.
From there, Jackson got to within two points of tying the score at 18, but then the Indians really turned up the pressure as they scored the next eight points for a lead of 10 points at 26-16, as Hart sank another 3-pointer, followed by Reese Leibreich scoring two points off a JHS turnover on a fast break. Bagshaw followed with a steal and layup, as he helped spark the Indians in a big way in the quarter off the bench. Captain rounded out the 8-0 run with a free throw.
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Near the end of the first, Latrell Haithcock sank a free throw, then cost JHS a chance at two points by taking a charge. Haithcock and Moberly each finished with eight points, while Bagshaw added seven.
JHS made the score close once again with a productive third frame as they began the quarter by taking a charge, followed by a 3-pointer from Tyler Neal, who led JHS in scoring with 17 points, with 13 in the first half.
HHS never lost the lead in the third and at one point held a 10-point lead with 4:04 left on the clock and a 12-point lead with 3:07 remaining in the third. JHS rallied for eight straight points to end the third with two 3-pointers from Nick Bachtel and one trey by Casey Walker for the three-point difference after three quarters. Bachtel totaled six points, and Walker added eight.
In the fourth, the Tribe scored nine consecutive points from the 6:23 mark to the 5:36 mark for a lead of 48-35. Those points came from Captain with a three-point play, a free throw by Hart, a jumper from Bagshaw (with the assist to Moberly) and a three-point play by Zach Young.
HHS ended the game by outscoring JHS, 6-2 in the final 2:27, including Tay Haithcock making two free throws to wrap up the scoring with 1:01 left in regulation.
Also scoring points in the fourth was Alex Branscome with three points.
The Indians will now face No. 2 seeded Fairland (14-6) on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. The game will be played at SEHS, with the winner earning a sectional title and a trip to the Convocation Center at Ohio University for a district semifinal game.
"We started thinking about Fairland as soon as the game clock went to zero," Prince said. "I'm going to watch film when I get home, as this is a completely different Fairland team than last year.
"They are perimeter-oriented. They want to play 100 miles per hour, and we want to play 10 miles per hour. We want to play our tempo, and we're going to have to work on controlling the tempo of the game."
The Division II SE District sectional semifinal win by the Indians didn't start off as planned for the home team on the scoreboard at Southeastern High School, as HHS trailed early by a 12-4 score with 2:05, but the Indians were able to rally and battle to take the lead in the second quarter and never lost the lead for the remainder of the postseason contest.
"We're happy to get out of here with a win," HHS head coach Brett Prince said. "We came out flat, they didn't. We pressured, and when we can spread the floor, our chances are better.
"I told our guys to let our defense score for us. They took Jarrod (Hart) out of the game, and hats off to them, they made us go to our third and fourth option. I'm proud we held on and played hard. We have to make sure we don't let teams hang around."
JHS (1-22) built a 12-4 advantage in the first with jumpers, free throws and two 3-pointers, while HHS scored their first points from Jordan Captain. Captain ended the game with 10 points.
As HHS (10-13) trailed by eight points, they ended the final 35 seconds with six straight points as Trey Moberly scored off a steal and layup, then again on another layup. That was followed with points by Jarrod Hart, who was double-teamed for a majority of the game, as he scored off the steal seconds later to bring HHS within two points by the end of the opening quarter.
Hart led HHS with 15 points, scoring eight in the first half.
In a game of rallies by both teams, HHS tied the game at 12, then took their first lead of the game with consecutive 3-pointers by Austin Bagshaw and Hart for a 18-12 advantage with 5:46 left in the first half.
From there, Jackson got to within two points of tying the score at 18, but then the Indians really turned up the pressure as they scored the next eight points for a lead of 10 points at 26-16, as Hart sank another 3-pointer, followed by Reese Leibreich scoring two points off a JHS turnover on a fast break. Bagshaw followed with a steal and layup, as he helped spark the Indians in a big way in the quarter off the bench. Captain rounded out the 8-0 run with a free throw.
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Near the end of the first, Latrell Haithcock sank a free throw, then cost JHS a chance at two points by taking a charge. Haithcock and Moberly each finished with eight points, while Bagshaw added seven.
JHS made the score close once again with a productive third frame as they began the quarter by taking a charge, followed by a 3-pointer from Tyler Neal, who led JHS in scoring with 17 points, with 13 in the first half.
HHS never lost the lead in the third and at one point held a 10-point lead with 4:04 left on the clock and a 12-point lead with 3:07 remaining in the third. JHS rallied for eight straight points to end the third with two 3-pointers from Nick Bachtel and one trey by Casey Walker for the three-point difference after three quarters. Bachtel totaled six points, and Walker added eight.
In the fourth, the Tribe scored nine consecutive points from the 6:23 mark to the 5:36 mark for a lead of 48-35. Those points came from Captain with a three-point play, a free throw by Hart, a jumper from Bagshaw (with the assist to Moberly) and a three-point play by Zach Young.
HHS ended the game by outscoring JHS, 6-2 in the final 2:27, including Tay Haithcock making two free throws to wrap up the scoring with 1:01 left in regulation.
Also scoring points in the fourth was Alex Branscome with three points.
The Indians will now face No. 2 seeded Fairland (14-6) on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. The game will be played at SEHS, with the winner earning a sectional title and a trip to the Convocation Center at Ohio University for a district semifinal game.
"We started thinking about Fairland as soon as the game clock went to zero," Prince said. "I'm going to watch film when I get home, as this is a completely different Fairland team than last year.
"They are perimeter-oriented. They want to play 100 miles per hour, and we want to play 10 miles per hour. We want to play our tempo, and we're going to have to work on controlling the tempo of the game."