Staff writer
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Hillsboro High School basketball teams were in need of finding some late momentum to carry into the postseason.
While Hesston isn’t an easy place to find it, the Trojans did however, get a much-needed tune-up Friday night, despite both teams falling to the ranked Swathers.
Alex Ratzlaff did all she could for the Lady Trojans, scoring a team-high 19 points.
It wasn’t enough as Hesston handed Hillsboro its fourth consecutive loss, 54-44.
Tasanee Sanchez added 10 points.
The loss drops the Trojans to 10-9 on the year and 5-5 in the CKL.
The Lady Trojans jumped out to a 17-14 lead after the first quarter, but an 18-8 run in the second put Hesston up at half, 32-25.
Hillsboro outscored the Lady Swathers the third quarter, 10-6, to pull to within 38-35, heading into the final frame.
Hesston got a combined 45 points from Kaily Jo Ince and Cami Richardson, led by Ince’s game-high 25, and both were instrumental in the Swathers outscoring Hillsboro 16-9 to secure the win.
For 16 minutes, the boys had the fourth-ranked Swathers on the ropes.
Unfortunately, the second half proved to be the difference with Hesston battling back for a 63-54 win.
The Trojans used precise perimeter shooting the first quarter to take a 23-16 lead before the Swathers were able to get anything going.
Once they did in the second quarter, Hesston was able to grab a 33-28 halftime lead with a 17-5 outburst.
Helped by a balanced scoring attack paced by Darian Ratzlaff’s team-high 16 points, the Trojans were right on Hesston’s heels to start the fourth quarter, down 47-44, but Hesston eventually had too much down the stretch.
Elias Werth and Austin Cross added 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Carson Herbel supplied 9.
With the regular season closing Tuesday night at Sterling, Hillsboro stands at 13-7 on the year and 5-4 in league play.