Tough start leads to Lady Indians loss to Washington
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — If the Hillsboro Lady Indians would have started their South Central Ohio League contest just a tad bit better on Saturday afternoon, the entire complexion of the game could have been different.
Hillsboro trailed 11-0 in the first four minutes against the Lady Blue Lions, but their 37 points in the next 28 minutes came up just short of a win, as they fell to the visiting Washington club 44-37 at Hillsboro High School.
In what Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly described as their "best all-around game," the Lady Indians did outscore the SCOL second-place Lady Blue Lions 37-33 in the final three-and-a half quarters.
"That's far and away our best overall effort of the year," Moberly said. "That's as close as we've come to putting 32 minutes together all season. I told the girls after the game … I just wanted them to know they could have hung their heads early in the game, but they didn't.
"They battled, they executed, they chipped away and got back into it, made a game of it. I'm not sure if we ever had them (Washington) on the ropes, but they were concerned enough that they had to keep playing the whole way through."
The opening run was enough for the Lady Blue Lions to travel back to Fayette County with a win, and the run of 11 straight points lasted just under four minutes as the Lady Indians were unable to score any points on their first seven possessions.
Washington (6-2, 12-2) opened the first frame with points by Jessica Guyett, Molli Shaw and Adrienne Perrill. Six of the 11 points were from Guyett, Shaw sank the first of four 3-pointers and Perrill connected twice from the free-throw line.
Shaw led the Lady Blue Lions with 14 points, followed by Guyett with 11 and Perrill with 10 as the trio combined for 35 of the 44 Washington points.
Hillsboro (1-7, 3-11) didn't score their first points until the 3:10 mark when Trista Rhodes (who scored a game-high 15 points) stole the basketball and took it to the hoop on a fast break, cutting the Washington lead to nine points. HHS scored again, this time from Kaylynn Bell with put-back points at the 2:17 mark. Bell finished with 10 points.
The Lady Blue Lions answered with a second 3-pointer by Shaw, but HHS ended the first with two free throws by Rhodes to make it a seven-point game at 14-7.
Each team scored seven points in the second frame, as the Lady Indians' intensity on the defensive side picked up as they held Washington to just one field goal in the quarter, a 3-pointer by Shaw at the 7:10 mark of the quarter. For the remainder of the second, Washington was held to free throws, during which they went 4-of-7, three made by Perrill and one from Taylor Shears.
As for the second frame of HHS, it equaled the offensive output of the first, but this time the combination of Danielle Gillman, Rhodes, Hannah Kibler and Bell added points to the scoreboard.
In the second half, the Lady Indians played even with WCH as each team scored 23 points. In fact, in the final three quarters HHS and WCH each scored 30 points.
"We are sitting here with three wins and 11 losses, and it would have been easy to quit," Moberly said. "We've struggled to put good effort out there in practices the past couple weeks, and I've been concerned about that.
"(Saturday) I was pleased with how they continued to battle back … they really stayed after it and showed a lot of pride and character other there. It's no secret we're young and rebuilding, but the leadership we get from our seniors to keep motivating our players is really important. I'm really proud of all the kids."
The third quarter saw Washington outscore HHS 12-7, but HHS won the final eight minutes with a fourth frame of 16 points, compared to 11 points by Washington.
[[In-content Ad]]In the third frame, the Lady Blue Lions opened with eight straight points, four by Perrill to take a lead of 25-14 with 5:55 left in the quarter. Guyett followed with the other four points to increase the lead of WCH to 29-14 with 4:35 left in the quarter.
HHS answered with a jumper by Whitney Earley and two points by Gillman off an inbounds pass from Bell.
From the 2:31 mark to the 2:07 mark, the Lady Blue Lions scored three points combined by Guyett and Paige McRoberts.
HHS ended the third with three points by Rhodes, including a steal and layup to the hoop with 29 seconds left on the clock.
"Trista and Kaylynn were looking to attack the basket, and that is something we need to do more of," Moberly said. "Hannah had a nice afternoon, and Carey (Juillerat) did a great job defensively. She's battled and battled with Jessica Guyett on the block. I thought she had a great game for us."
The Lady Indians (who earlier this season lost at WCH 51-32) had one of their best quarters of the season in the fourth, keeping the pressure on Washington as Rhodes opened the quarter by going through two defenders to score a basket, and she ended the game with a steal and layup at the buzzer completing her six-point fourth frame.
Also scoring for HHS in the fourth were Taylor Moberly, Earley and Kibler all combining for 10 points in the quarter.
Washington's 11 points in the fourth came from McRoberts (who finished the game with eight points) and Shaw, who tallied five points in the fourth, including her fourth 3-pointer.
The Lady Indians will play again on Wednesday when they face the London Lady Red Raiders at LHS with JV starting at 6 p.m. Earlier this season, HHS defeated LHS by a score of 52-40 at HHS. HHS will play their final home game on Saturday, Jan. 28 when they host the Madison-Plains Lady Golden Eagles with JV starting at noon.
Washington is scheduled to travel to Clinton-Massie on Wednesday, Jan. 25 when they next take the court. CM leads the SCOL standings over WCH and McClain by two games as CM is 6-0 in the SCOL. The CM and MHS game for Saturday night was postponed to a later date.
In JV play, the Lady Blue Lions defeated the Lady Indians 50-16. Leading WCH was Ali Laytart with 15 points. Leading HHS was Taylor Stanforth with eight.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
WCH 14 07 12 11 — 44
HHS 07 07 07 16 — 37
INDIVIDUAL STATS
WCH (44)
A.Perrill 2 (0) 6-8 10
P.McRoberts 4 (0) 0-1 8
T.Shears 0 (0) 1-2 1
J.Guyett 3 (0) 5-8 11
M.Shaw 0 (4) 0-2 14
TOTALS: 9 )4) 12-21 44
HHS (37)
T.Moberly 0 (0) 1-2 1
D.Gillman 2 (0) 0-0 4
T.Rhodes 6 (0) 3-4 15
W.Earley 2 (0) 0-2 4
H.Kibler 1 (0) 1-2 3
K.Bell 3 (1) 1-2 10
TOTALS: 14 (1) 6-12 37
Hillsboro trailed 11-0 in the first four minutes against the Lady Blue Lions, but their 37 points in the next 28 minutes came up just short of a win, as they fell to the visiting Washington club 44-37 at Hillsboro High School.
In what Hillsboro head coach JR Moberly described as their "best all-around game," the Lady Indians did outscore the SCOL second-place Lady Blue Lions 37-33 in the final three-and-a half quarters.
"That's far and away our best overall effort of the year," Moberly said. "That's as close as we've come to putting 32 minutes together all season. I told the girls after the game … I just wanted them to know they could have hung their heads early in the game, but they didn't.
"They battled, they executed, they chipped away and got back into it, made a game of it. I'm not sure if we ever had them (Washington) on the ropes, but they were concerned enough that they had to keep playing the whole way through."
The opening run was enough for the Lady Blue Lions to travel back to Fayette County with a win, and the run of 11 straight points lasted just under four minutes as the Lady Indians were unable to score any points on their first seven possessions.
Washington (6-2, 12-2) opened the first frame with points by Jessica Guyett, Molli Shaw and Adrienne Perrill. Six of the 11 points were from Guyett, Shaw sank the first of four 3-pointers and Perrill connected twice from the free-throw line.
Shaw led the Lady Blue Lions with 14 points, followed by Guyett with 11 and Perrill with 10 as the trio combined for 35 of the 44 Washington points.
Hillsboro (1-7, 3-11) didn't score their first points until the 3:10 mark when Trista Rhodes (who scored a game-high 15 points) stole the basketball and took it to the hoop on a fast break, cutting the Washington lead to nine points. HHS scored again, this time from Kaylynn Bell with put-back points at the 2:17 mark. Bell finished with 10 points.
The Lady Blue Lions answered with a second 3-pointer by Shaw, but HHS ended the first with two free throws by Rhodes to make it a seven-point game at 14-7.
Each team scored seven points in the second frame, as the Lady Indians' intensity on the defensive side picked up as they held Washington to just one field goal in the quarter, a 3-pointer by Shaw at the 7:10 mark of the quarter. For the remainder of the second, Washington was held to free throws, during which they went 4-of-7, three made by Perrill and one from Taylor Shears.
As for the second frame of HHS, it equaled the offensive output of the first, but this time the combination of Danielle Gillman, Rhodes, Hannah Kibler and Bell added points to the scoreboard.
In the second half, the Lady Indians played even with WCH as each team scored 23 points. In fact, in the final three quarters HHS and WCH each scored 30 points.
"We are sitting here with three wins and 11 losses, and it would have been easy to quit," Moberly said. "We've struggled to put good effort out there in practices the past couple weeks, and I've been concerned about that.
"(Saturday) I was pleased with how they continued to battle back … they really stayed after it and showed a lot of pride and character other there. It's no secret we're young and rebuilding, but the leadership we get from our seniors to keep motivating our players is really important. I'm really proud of all the kids."
The third quarter saw Washington outscore HHS 12-7, but HHS won the final eight minutes with a fourth frame of 16 points, compared to 11 points by Washington.
[[In-content Ad]]In the third frame, the Lady Blue Lions opened with eight straight points, four by Perrill to take a lead of 25-14 with 5:55 left in the quarter. Guyett followed with the other four points to increase the lead of WCH to 29-14 with 4:35 left in the quarter.
HHS answered with a jumper by Whitney Earley and two points by Gillman off an inbounds pass from Bell.
From the 2:31 mark to the 2:07 mark, the Lady Blue Lions scored three points combined by Guyett and Paige McRoberts.
HHS ended the third with three points by Rhodes, including a steal and layup to the hoop with 29 seconds left on the clock.
"Trista and Kaylynn were looking to attack the basket, and that is something we need to do more of," Moberly said. "Hannah had a nice afternoon, and Carey (Juillerat) did a great job defensively. She's battled and battled with Jessica Guyett on the block. I thought she had a great game for us."
The Lady Indians (who earlier this season lost at WCH 51-32) had one of their best quarters of the season in the fourth, keeping the pressure on Washington as Rhodes opened the quarter by going through two defenders to score a basket, and she ended the game with a steal and layup at the buzzer completing her six-point fourth frame.
Also scoring for HHS in the fourth were Taylor Moberly, Earley and Kibler all combining for 10 points in the quarter.
Washington's 11 points in the fourth came from McRoberts (who finished the game with eight points) and Shaw, who tallied five points in the fourth, including her fourth 3-pointer.
The Lady Indians will play again on Wednesday when they face the London Lady Red Raiders at LHS with JV starting at 6 p.m. Earlier this season, HHS defeated LHS by a score of 52-40 at HHS. HHS will play their final home game on Saturday, Jan. 28 when they host the Madison-Plains Lady Golden Eagles with JV starting at noon.
Washington is scheduled to travel to Clinton-Massie on Wednesday, Jan. 25 when they next take the court. CM leads the SCOL standings over WCH and McClain by two games as CM is 6-0 in the SCOL. The CM and MHS game for Saturday night was postponed to a later date.
In JV play, the Lady Blue Lions defeated the Lady Indians 50-16. Leading WCH was Ali Laytart with 15 points. Leading HHS was Taylor Stanforth with eight.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
WCH 14 07 12 11 — 44
HHS 07 07 07 16 — 37
INDIVIDUAL STATS
WCH (44)
A.Perrill 2 (0) 6-8 10
P.McRoberts 4 (0) 0-1 8
T.Shears 0 (0) 1-2 1
J.Guyett 3 (0) 5-8 11
M.Shaw 0 (4) 0-2 14
TOTALS: 9 )4) 12-21 44
HHS (37)
T.Moberly 0 (0) 1-2 1
D.Gillman 2 (0) 0-0 4
T.Rhodes 6 (0) 3-4 15
W.Earley 2 (0) 0-2 4
H.Kibler 1 (0) 1-2 3
K.Bell 3 (1) 1-2 10
TOTALS: 14 (1) 6-12 37