Trojan defense smothers Spartans
Hillsboro boys hammer Collegiate Spartans, 56-21
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
While the Trojans' offense has rolled for the majority of the 2003-2004 games, Friday night's game belonged to the defense.
Other than taking a quick 4-3 lead on the Trojans in the game's first 2:42, that was about the only thing that went well for Collegiate in Hillsboro.
In a rivalry that arguably once ranked among the best in the state, the Trojans turned to their defense to crush the Spartans on senior night.
Shaking off a ragged start, Hillsboro crushed Collegiate down the stretch, 56-21, limiting the Spartans to 24 percent shooting on the game.
The Trojans run their regular season record to 15-2 on the year and 9-1 in the MCAA.
"I thought we were a little bit out of synch offensively," Trojan coach Darrell Knoll said of Hillsboro's slow start. "We started different than we normally do, being senior night."
The impatient Trojans opened the game hitting 3-for-9 from the floor, but Eric Weinbrenner's basket with 2:42 remaining in the first frame gave Hillsboro a permanent lead, 7-4.
Weinbrenner scored a game-high 12 points, knocking down 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
Playing his final regular season game in front of the hometown faithful, Kyle Jilka chipped in 11 points, pulling down a game-high seven of Hillsboro's 26 rebounds and picking up six steals.
If making just 2-of-11 field goals through the first quarter wasn't bad enough for the Spartans, it got worse in the second quarter.
Collegiate spent the majority of the first half without a field goal while the Trojans stretched their lead to 19-8 by half-time.
Uncharacteristically, the Spartans, a team so noted for giving Hillsboro a battle, hit just 3-for-19 from the field the first half, making a sole field goal the second quarter from eight attempts.
The icy shooting can be attributed to the swarming Trojan defense, spearheaded by Jilka and Caleb Marsh.
"I felt lucky to get out of the half because they had some open looks and they missed them," said Knoll of Hillsboro's first half. "They didn't shoot well, and that's the bottom line tonight."
Paced by six points from Derek Hamm, the Trojans buried the Spartans the third quarter, using a 12-2 run that built the lead to 33-12 with 3:22 left in the stanza.
Hillsboro exploded out the gates to start the fourth quarter, jetting for a 13-0 run with Daniel Deckert scoring four of his seven points in the first 1:00.
Marsh's basket with 5:55 to go started the 30-point rule, allowing the clock to only stop on a time-out or a technical.
Just over 1:00 later, Marsh stole the ball and took it on a fast-break which he dunked home to push the lead to 49-17.
Spartan coach Mitch Fiegel was ejected after a pair of back-to-back technicals came :15 after Marsh's dunk.
In one of their best shooting performances of the season, the Trojans hit 73 percent from the floor and 36 percent from downtown for 58 for the game.
The biggest sore spot came from Hillsboro's shooting 9-of-13 at the free throw line.
"I thought Jilka had a particularly good game tonight," Knoll said. "He hit the three a couple of times, was active on the glass and took a big charge in the first half. He did a great job.
"Everybody played pretty well. I was very pleased with the effort out of everybody."
The Trojans travel tonight to Ellinwood for a make-up game with tip-off scheduled around 8 p.m.
