Riley thwarts Trojan title hopes
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Wrong place, wrong time.
Gunning for their fourth state boys' Class 3A title in the last 11 years, the state tournament was the last place the Trojans could afford to have an off-night.
That was something too hard for even a team like Hillsboro to do though.
The Trojans were coming off a double overtime victory over Hoisington on Monday night, and the Riley County Falcons were the wrong team an unrested team would want to face with the stakes being at a maximum high.
The fresher-legged Falcons ran Hillsboro out of gas early, ruining the Trojans' hopes of a state title March 6 with a 74-46 first round loss.
The defeat marks the quickest exit in eight trips to Hutchinson's Class 3A state tournament 20-4 Hillsboro has made.
"I'm not making any excuses," a humbled Knoll said, "but I really think that if we had one more day to regroup and prepare both mentally and physically, the outcome would have been different.
"We certainly would not get beat by the same margin."
A team that plays an up-tempo game and pushes the ball up the floor fast to create open looks, the Falcons' speed did its number on Hillsboro in the game's first 4:00.
By the time Tyler Weinbrenner scored the Trojans' first basket just over 3:00 in, the Falcons were already out to a 7-2 lead.
An equally quick Falcon defense saw to it that pulling to within five points was as good as it would get for Hillsboro.
Just after one quarter, the Trojans were in severe trouble, shooting a frigid 4 for 14 from the field and trailing 17-10.
Trojan senior football players Adam Woods, Layne Frick and Ross Duerksen won't soon forget the last time they saw the Falcons' Mike and Jordy Nelson before Wednesday.
The Riley County duo was a fly in the ointment in the fall of 2000 when the Falcons first dealt Hillsboro a knockout in the opening round of the state football playoffs.
Much like they were in 2000, the Trojans were even more stumped for an answer for the Nelson boys Wednesday.
Mike took the game over in the second quarter, dumping 11 of his first-half 13 points on Hillsboro, en route to a game-high 21.
Another 7-0 run to start the second quarter and Riley County's lead had stretched to 24-10, barely over 1:30 in.
With a relentless defense, the Falcons denied Hillsboro good looks at the basket.
As a result, Hillsboro went into the lockerroom, down 36-21 with a ragged 8 for 27 shooting from the floor.
The Trojans finished the game hitting season-lows 26 percent from the field and one-of-22 from downtown.
"We didn't shoot the ball well and they did," Knoll said. "So the game just got away from us. It is really tough to play catch-up against a team who is on a roll.
"Trying to play catch-up made our shot selection questionable at times, but when you're not making anything and on your heels, things just snowball."
Appearing in his final game of a strong high school career, Frick did all he could do to try and help Hillsboro stave off elimination.
He ended his career scoring a team-high 10 points with seven coming in the first half, amidst snagging a team-high seven rebounds.
But the snowballing turned into an avalanche on the Trojans in the third quarter.
More from the Nelsons as they merged for 14 of the Falcons' 20 points, and Hillsboro was buried 58-26 heading into the fourth quarter.
While Mike came to life in the second quarter, Jordy wreaked havoc in the third, scoring eight of his 19, while pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds.
The Trojans' rebounding gave them no leeway either.
Despite outrebounding Riley County offensively, 18-15, the Trojans got beat decisively defensively, 35-25.
The Falcons' rebounding edge helped explain their 12-2 margin on second chance points.
Even falling behind by as many as 34 in the fourth quarter, the Trojans still battled back.
Dustin Jost tossed in nine more points and 11 of the 12 Trojans contributed with at least a point.
Jon Regier scored Hillsboro's final point of a good season with :8 seconds left, draining one-of-two at the free throw line.
"I felt like we tried really hard," said Knoll. "Riley just played more tenaciously when they got us down."
The Falcons finished third in Class 3A, falling to eventual state champion Lakin in the semifinals, 75-57.
History has shown that Knoll's teams are capable of bouncing back even after a distasteful finish.
Eight years ago, Knoll and the Trojans were assaulted by Beloit 95-57 in the semifinal round of sub-state.
Hillsboro then turned around the next season and won its second of three state championships.
RILEY COUNTY 74, HILLSBORO 46
Hillsboro — 10 11 7 15 46
RC — 17 19 20 18 74
Hillsboro — Frick 10, Jost 9, Tyler Peachey 5, Duerksen 5, Woods 4, Steve Chisholm 4, Adam Driggers 3, Weinbrenner 2, Andy Brubacher 2, Alan Yoder 1, Regier 1, Totals 15-57 1-22 15-26 46.
Riley County — M. Nelson 21, J. Nelson 19, Dustin Reasoner 12, Jeremy Starnes 10, Cory Clem 6, Ryan Klutz 3, Kyle Wainwright 2, Andy Boyd 1, Totals 27-65 6-17 14-16 74.
