Staff writer
Fans of the Hillsboro High School boys’ basketball team have watched the development of a scorer over the Trojans’ 10-out-11 winning surge the past two months. Shaq Thiessen’s offensive output was on display Friday in a 69-52 win over Kingman in Kingman.
The dynamic shooting guard was the high-point man for Hillsboro on Friday with 17 points. He is often the first Trojan player to burst into the open court after a steal; he had three steals himself. He scored on a layup for his first basket, then a pull-up jump shot in transition.
Thiessen’s shooting from downtown has greatly improved throughout the year. He made three 3-pointers on Friday and none was timelier than an NBA-range trey drained with 3 seconds left in the first half.
In the second half, Thiessen also scored in the half court, curling off a screen near the right elbow for an open jump shot.
“He took good shots,” coach Darrell Knoll said. “Defensively, again, he was great.”
While Thiessen was among five Hillsboro players who recorded 2 assists, he was the one player for the Trojans who looks to score first and ask questions later. He gave the Trojans a go-to option with the clock winding down.
Knoll was pleased with the effort from all his players. It was another well-played team game by Hillsboro.
The Trojans jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the game. The Eagles faced a 10-point or more deficit for the majority of the game.
Eight Trojans scored: Jesse Allen, 11; Christian Ratzlaff, 10; Brett Weinbrenner, 8; and Josh Wiebe, 7; leading the way.
Brandon Rooker scored 5 points, Luke Moore scored 4 points, and Harry Faber scored 2 points to round out the scoring for Hillsboro.
The Trojans controlled the glass. Allen and Wiebe both contributed 6 rebounds.
Hillsboro played well on defense, Allen was involved again with 4 steals.
“He’s playing with the vision of a senior right now,” Knoll said of Allen. “He’s making good plays for everybody else.”