Trojans lose to Marion in OT
BY RYAN RICHTER
Sports Writer
The last time the Marion High School boys beat Hillsboro on the basketball court, today's players were four years old or younger.
It was Dec. 8, 1992, when Marion's Stacy Sawyer scored 27 points to spark a 69-67 upset.
But Hillsboro's streak over Marion on the hardwood came to a sneaker-screeching halt Friday in the jam-packed Warrior gym.
Travis Hett sank the winning lay-up in overtime, to top the Trojans, 44-42.
Hillsboro's record was 5-7 before hosting Haven Tuesday. The Trojans travel Friday to face a good Hesston team.
At Marion, Hillsboro might have avoided the loss if, in the last minute of regulation play, it had made just one free throw in four attempts at the line.
"When you can't hit your free throws and you turn the ball over like we did, you can't win," said coach Darrell Knoll. "We had our chances if we could've hit our free throws."
Fourteen years ago, the Warriors' victory could be credited to the hot hand of one player. Sawyer hit nine threes.
But Marion was anything but hot Friday, shooting 38 percent and just 3-of-14 from outside.
The cold streak included five minutes without scoring, which helped Hillsboro take a 26-14 halftime lead. Hillsboro hit nearly 50 percent of its shots the first half.
Turnovers have tormented the Trojans in two of their last three losses. And carelessness with the basketball led to their undoing against the Warriors. Marion gained 16 points from 17 Trojan turnovers in the second half.
Marion beat Hillsboro 20-8 in the third quarter, including a run of 12 unanswered points, and at the end of the third quarter, the score was tied at 34.
Hillsboro senior Lucas Hamm had a team-high 14 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, but suffered his fifth foul in the overtime to dampen the Trojans' chances.
Troy Frick joined Hamm as the only other Trojan in double figures with 10 points.
