Lady Trojans too much for unbeaten Hoisington
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports Writer
On paper, Friday night's game between the hosting Lady Trojans and the Hoisington Lady Cardinals looked like it could turn out to be a dandy.
Through five games, the Cardinals had yet to taste defeat, while the Trojans had only suffered one loss.
But after a quarter, it was apparent Hoisington (6-1) had yet to face the same caliber of competition as the Trojans (6-1).
While the Cardinals were playing smaller schools like Claflin, Haviland, Pawnee Heights, Larned, Ellinwood, and Nickerson, Hillsboro beat defending 3A champ Collegiate, and had its only loss at the hands of a good 4A Clearwater team.
Hillsboro started fast, and behind a respective game-high 17 and 11 points from JuliAnne Chisholm, and Tina Frick, trampled the Cardinals, 39-22.
The Trojans have Tuesdays off through January, but face Ellinwood Friday in Hillsboro at around 6 p.m., before the Trojan Classic.
"Our kids did everything I asked them to do and I thought coming in it would be a pretty tough game," said Trojan coach Dale Honeck. "We got a chance to let everybody see some significant time on the court. It was a good game for that."
Opening the game by missing all 12 of their first-quarter shots to fall behind 14-2, the only thing that could have gone more wrong for the Cardinals would have been scoring a basket on Hillsboro's goal.
With poor shooting crippling Hoisington, Frick and Chisholm had a golden opportunity to score all 14 of the Trojans' points, keeping the Cardinals from ever getting into the game.
It might have been a different story had Hoisington been able to connect on at least half of its six three-point attempts the first quarter.
Hillsboro shot nearly 50 percent from the floor the first half — 12-for-26 — as its defense limited the Cardinals to a miserable three-of-23 to trail 26-8.
With the game clearly in the Trojans' favor, Honeck let his reserves loose the second half.
Lora Andrews picked up five points, while Samantha Heinrichs and Kassidi Luthi pitched in, too.
The shots wouldn't fall for Hillsboro the second half, as it was outscored 14-13, but Hoisington was unable to take advantage to realistically jeopardize the lead.
Amanda Faber scored on a follow with :5 left for her two points.
"It was to get other people in," Honeck said of his team's second half strategy. "It was good for everybody."
