Trojans dismantle 4A Wellington
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The Wellington Crusaders would have had better luck on the gridiron Saturday night at home than what they accomplished against the Trojan boys on the hardwood.
Possibly hoping that the Trojans might be groggy from the long ride south or from Friday night's game at home against Sterling, the defending Class 4A state football champion Crusaders were the ones that ended up dead tired.
Hillsboro erased any signs of suffering from road wear as the Trojans trounced Wellington with ease, 94-50. The Trojans up their mark to an unblemished 7-0 on the season.
Unfortunately for the Crusaders, Tyler Weinbrenner was wide awake.
He scorched Wellington for a career-high 28 with 19 coming in the Trojans' impressive first half.
Unfazed by Wellington's 2-3 zone, Hillsboro shot a lights out 54 percent from downtown with a trio coming from Andy Brubacher. For the game from the field, Hillsboro was even better at 55 percent.
The Trojans built up an 18-10 lead after the first quarter with 12 of the 18 coming via Weinbrenner.
Still lingering around, the bottom fell out on the Crusaders in the second quarter.
Wellington was nearly doubled up in scoring with Hillsboro constructing a 26-14 second quarter that made it a 44-24 game at intermission.
Dustin Jost, who had a season-best 16 points, scored half of them in the first half coming off the bench.
Trojan coach Darrell Knoll got a productive night from his bench with Shawn Hughbanks scoring 10 and Tyler Peachey and Aaron Yoder adding eight a piece.
Wellington never knew what hit them. Hillsboro's defense forced 20 steals and 31 turnovers with Weinbrenner picking up a game-high six thefts.
Already faced with the chore of taking care of the basketball, Wellington had to figure out how to score with the Trojans limiting them to a miserable 27 percent from the field.
Hillsboro put the game on ice in the third quarter with a 29-13 run.
Sterling
One name that die-hard Tabor fans are likely never to forget is Don Zimmerman.
The former Bluejay men's coach made a return to where his coaching career began, only this time as the Sterling Black Bear boys' head coach Friday at Hillsboro.
The Trojans ruined Zimmerman's homecoming with a 80-62 victory.
Weinbrenner scored a game-high 19, Layne Frick had 15, Brubacher 12, and Adam Woods added 11.
Just like they did against Wellington, Hillsboro blew the game wide open in the third quarter with a 27-13 run.
Nickerson
One team that had Knoll worried was Friday night's visiting opponent, the Nickerson Panthers.
Knoll had good reason to worry with Hillsboro falling behind for the first time this season after one quarter, 15-11.
Nickerson shot a better 50 percent from the floor, opposed to Hillsboro's 48.
But a 29-9 second quarter by the Trojans eventually laid Knoll's worries to rest as Hillsboro trounced the Panthers, 76-56.
Brubacher paced the Trojans' scoring with 12 of his season-high 16 points coming from behind the arc. Frick scored 14 and Ross Duerksen and Woods added 11 and 10, respectively.
In the Trojans' best game this season in taking care of the ball, they committed a season-low seven turnovers.
Hillsboro 94, Wellington 50
Wellington — 10 14 13 13 50
Hillsboro — 18 26 29 21 94
Wellington — Zane Aguilar 6, Daniel Farris 7, Joe Newman 8, Colt Cody 19, Brady Norris 5, Brett Baker 5, Totals 12-46 4-14 14-22 50.
Hillsboro — Brubacher 9, Weinbrenner 28, Frick 5, Jost 16, Steve Chisholm 3, Peachey 8, Adam Driggers 2, Woods 5, Hughbanks 10, Aaron Yoder 8, Totals 24-44 9-17 19-33 94.
