HILLSBORO HIGH SCHOOL: Trojans tripped up by Hesston
Trojan boys' big third quarter not enough against Swathers
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The talk as of late in the Hillsboro school system is what the influenza epidemic has done to the school's population.
Tuesday night in a match-up between two of the MCAA conference bests, the Trojan boys' basketball team and the visiting Hesston Swathers, Hillsboro's game appeared to be under the weather, too.
The fifth-ranked Swathers surprised fourth-ranked Hillsboro, dropping a 53-49 bombshell on the Trojans.
The loss leaves Hillsboro at 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the MCAA.
"Offensively, we just aren't executing well yet," Trojan coach Darrell Knoll said. "We're still struggling a little bit. We've just got to sharpen up, we've got to execute our screens better and play together more."
With the way the game started out for Hillsboro, it was surprising the final score was as close as it was.
The cold-shooting, impatient Trojans opened the game missing their first seven shots while Hesston built a 12-1 lead nearly midway through the first quarter.
"We're too impatient," said Knoll. "Especially early in the game when all we did was one or two pass, dribble and shoot. We're not going to be successful doing that."
Hesston made seven of its 11 shots, while its defense limited the Trojans to a ragged 3 for 12 from the floor in the first quarter.
One of the biggest weapons the Trojans have is a speedy backcourt.
But the Swathers seemed a step quicker, keeping Hillsboro out of synch the entire evening, holding its fatigued leading-scorer Tyler Weinbrenner to just three points.
Frustrate the backcourt and Hillsboro struggles to find consistent offense elsewhere.
Combined, the Trojans' top-two scorers, Weinbrenner and Andy Brubacher yielded 12 points.
"Hillsboro's guard play is its strength," Swather coach Ty Rhodes said. "They have a lot of experience there and those three (Weinbrenner, Brubacher and Dustin Jost) were on a very successful team last year.
"We really thought we needed to shut those guys down and I felt like we did a good job of getting out on the perimeter and guarding."
Handling the ball was a chore for both teams with the two converting a good sum of mistakes into points.
Trailing 14-4 with just under 3:00 left in the first frame, Jost picked Kendall Drier's pocket, scoring on a fast break to ignite an 8-0 Trojan-run.
The scoring became scarce the second quarter as neither team made more than three field goals.
By the time Jost scored the Trojans' first basket in the second quarter at the 5:23 point, Hesston was up 23-12.
The Trojans hit a scoring lapse that extended 3:00 before a pair of free throws from Brubacher cut the lead to 23-16 by halftime.
Hillsboro was just 1 of 6 for through the second quarter and 4 for 18 by halftime.
Hesston looked like Hillsboro did the first half in the third quarter.
A Brubacher-triple fueled a 9-0 run with Tyler Peachey's fast break getting the Trojans over the hill, 34-31, with 2:52 left in the third quarter.
Peachey finished second in scoring to Jost's season-team high 15 points with 12.
With Hillsboro ending the third quarter on a 9-2 run, it appeared the wind had left the Swather sail.
"Hillsboro is a good team," said Rhodes. "We talked about how they're going to make a run at some point and just how are we going to respond to that run."
Rhodes got his answer in the fourth quarter as the Trojans couldn't buy a basket.
Then Kendall Drier took over the game, scoring on high percentage shots.
Drier led all scorers, finishing with 20, 12 coming as part of the Swathers' 20-8 fourth quarter.
Hesston regained the lead, 43-41, on a 10-0 run with Drier supplying six of the points.
Hillsboro again tied the game at 45-45 with Shawn Hughbanks sinking a pair at the free throw line.
Still, the Trojans were playing uphill the rest of the way.
Down 51-49 with just over :20 left, Dustin Klassen put the finishing touches on Hillsboro, making it a two-possession by scoring on a fast-break.
"Really, we had chances at the end to tie the game or win it," Knoll said. "We had our chances. We missed some free throws, we allowed them to get their rebound back. We gave up easy baskets all night.
"I think we learned a lot tonight and the only way we can approach this is to learn from what we didn't do well and be ready next time."
The Trojans close out the year Friday when they travel to Lindsborg to face the Smoky Valley Vikings in a pivotal game.
Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Collegiate
Sparks have the tendency to fly any time the Trojans meet up with the archrival Wichita Collegiate Spartans.
They did again Friday night in Hillsboro with the Trojans overcoming 35 percent shooting from the floor to top the Spartans, 52-38 in game that saw the two teams combine for 43 fouls.
Peachey had a career-game, finishing with a double-double game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds on 4 for 7 from the field, 2 of 3 from downtown and 6 of 6 at the foul line. Weinbrenner pitched in 10 points.
A pair of 9-8 second and third quarters helped the Spartans stay in Hillsboro's rear-view mirror, 29-26, to start the fourth quarter.
Hillsboro, despite hitting just five field goals during its 23-12 fourth quarter, managed to hit 12 of 17 from the free throw line to widen the Spartans' gap.
For the game, Hillsboro hit 22 of 33 from the stripe.
