Trojans down Hesston for Trojan Classic title
Hillsboro boys overcome cold shooting for 38-31 win
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
The Trojans were only scheduled to meet their arch-rival Hesston Swathers once during the regular season.
That game was played Jan. 11 with Hillsboro picking up a huge road win in hostile Hesston.
The Swathers made sure they got another shot at the Trojans in Saturday's title game of the Trojan Classic in Hillsboro, downing Riley County and Sunrise.
Eleven days later, the result was still the same with the Trojans (12-0) overcoming a ragged first half for a 38-31 win.
The Trojans hammered Belleville in the first game, 78-60, before crushing TMP in the semifinals Friday, 68-45.
"We should be happy to beat an excellent team in the final of the Trojan Classic," a relieved Hillsboro coach Darrell Knoll said. "We made enough plays and we battled enough to win. It's not like we beat somebody that wasn't good. It was a great game."
Not to start with it wasn't.
Even the high percentage shots were about impossible to get for either the Swathers or Hillsboro.
A pair of teams that can put up points, neither scored until there was 4:23 left in the first quarter when the Swathers' Kelly Linton made their first and only basket.
Derek Hamm scored a game-high 17 points, sinking a pair of free throws that fueled a 9-0 Trojan run.
The 6-5 senior was about the only consistency for Hillsboro all night, hitting 50 percent from the floor on 5-of-10 and 7-for-8 at the free throw line.
Hesston's shooting woes continued the first quarter, ending on a sour 1-for-12 and 18 percent at the break.
Kyle Kroeker had eight points, seven coming in the first quarter for Hillsboro's final trio of baskets.
"Hesston played hard and did a lot of good things on defense, forcing us to do some things we don't normally do," Knoll said. "I thought we got caught standing a lot and early we missed a lot of shots inside that should've been made."
Both teams' smothering defense meant contested shots and neither Hesston nor Hillsboro warmed up much in the second quarter.
Dan Deckert's three with 1:14 left in the first half helped the Trojans stagger into the break with a 19-9 lead shooting 7-for-26 from the floor.
Hesston showed a sign of its hunger to beat Hillsboro, opening the second half with an 8-0 run.
Barely 2:00 into the third quarter, the Swathers were breathing down the Trojans' necks, 19-17.
That's when Hillsboro continued feeding the ball inside to Hamm, who again put the Trojans back in front by 10, something that proved to be pivotal down the stretch.
The Swathers warmed up more than the Trojans, connecting on 5-of-10 from the floor the third quarter, slicing the lead down to 27-23 heading into the final quarter.
Hillsboro could've been out of the woods long before there was :30 left in the game had it been able to convert at the free throw line.
Instead, the Trojans struggled through 5-for-12 at the line the fourth quarter, making for some late suspense.
"When you have the lead you can dictate the game as much as possible," said Knoll. "We went through a stretch where we made some plays I thought were questionable, but overall, we dictated the tempo in the last quarter.
"If we'd made our free throws, it wouldn't have even come down to what it did.
"We played a hard-nosed game, and we just need to realize that sometimes, you're going to win ugly, but it's a win."
After a few days rest, the Trojans return to action Friday when they travel to Marion for a tip-off scheduled around 8 p.m.
