Trojans run away in battle for Marion County
Hillsboro boys take
down Warriors, 55-41
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Still reeling after a crushing loss six days earlier in the Trojan Classic's title game, what the Trojans really needed to kill their ills was another game.
One to gain back the same confidence Hillsboro was playing with before the Classic.
They got it Friday night, squaring off against the visiting Marion Warriors for county supremacy.
While the Warriors stuck around at the break, down 28-21, Hillsboro (10-3) made too many big plays the second half to down Marion, 55-41.
"The week was long and we needed a game to heal up," said Trojan coach Darrell Knoll. "At times I thought we were a little bit rough offensively and maybe part of that was still some of the aftereffects of that (loss).
"I was happy with the way we came back tonight and maybe now we can really put it behind us and come back and play with the same confidence."
The only thing keeping the Trojans from pulling away from the Warriors quicker than they did was themselves.
Even the fast-breaks were hard to come with the Trojans missing three in the first half.
Then there was Travis Hett, who had 14 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, supplying more than half of the Warriors' offense, hitting four-for-eight from outside.
Marion actually had a 12-10 lead to close the first quarter until Kyle Kroeker flushed a three right before the buzzer.
Hett gave the Warriors one more lead in the opening minute of the second quarter before they hit a 4:00 scoring lapse where the Trojans regained the lead for good.
Kroeker scored the go-ahead basket to trigger a 10-0 run to push the lead to 23-14 and eventually finish with a team-high 20 points.
Beating the Warriors also depends on handling another Hett, leading scorer Jason.
Foul trouble kept Jason from ever becoming a factor as he finished with eight points thanks to a smothering Trojan defense.
Marion never got any closer than six the remainder of the game.
Of the Warriors' 21 first-half points, 11 came courtesy of the Trojans' 11 mistakes.
But Marion also gave the Trojans a boost with carelessness, spotting them 19 points off 11 turnovers while yielding the Trojans' 50 percent from the field and 51 for the game.
Even with a slow start, going nearly the first 3:00 of the second half without a basket, the Trojans were able to pull away the pivotal third quarter with a 14-5 run, including scoring another 10 unanswered.
"I was pleased with the effort and I thought the guys handled a lot of things pretty well tonight," Knoll said. "It was a hard-fought win and I'm glad we came out on top."
The Trojans limited the Warriors to 37 percent shooting while smashing Marion in rebounding, 30-16.
Seven of the 30 came from Lucas Hamm, who had 15 points, and five from Wade Weibert, who finished with 10 points.
After another Tuesday night off, the Trojans travel to Friday to Sterling for an 8 p.m. tip-off with the Black Bears.
Hillsboro then returns home Tuesday to host dangerous Smoky Valley, also at 8 p.m.
