Hillsboro High School’s boys varsity basketball team dropped their fourth game in a row on Tuesday when they traveled to Chillicothe to take on Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC) rivals the Cavaliers.
With the 76-62 loss to the Cavaliers the Indians fall to 4-4 on the season overall and 2-3 in the FAC.
Ethan Watson led the Indians in scoring against the Cavaliers with 21 points but, was held scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Branden Maughmer, of Chillicothe, was the high scorer for the game with 31 points on the night to lead Chillicothe to the win.
The tightly contested first quarter saw Maughmer and Jason Benson score all 17 of the Cavaliers’ points as they managed to cling to a two point lead at 17-15 heading into the second quarter.
Hillsboro repeated their 15 point performance from the first quarter as Watson poured in ten in an effort to keep the Indians in the game. Chillicothe seemed to find another gear in the second quarter with Maughmer leading the way with 14 points in the frame as the Cavaliers extended their lead to 11 points at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to the Indians as they poured in 23 points including 10 more for Watson. The Indians also turned up the pressure defensively and limited the Cavaliers to 11 points in the third to take a 53-52 lead into the fourth.
Chillicothe flipped the script in the final frame as they recorded their second 24 point quarter of the night while limiting Hillsboro to just nine points. Watson was scoreless in the fourth quarter as the Cavaliers defense decided to make a different Indian beat them.
Hillsboro will get the next ten days off before taking the floor for the final time in 2017 when they host Blanchester on Friday December 29 in a non-league matchup. The freshman game is scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m. followed by JV at 6 p.m. and the varsity is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
The Cavaliers will be back at it on Thursday when they travel to Marion Franklin High School to take on the Red Devils.
(Box Score)
CHS: 17-24-11-24
HHS: 15-15-23-9
Chillicothe: B. Maughmer 12(1)-4/5-31; Jordan 1-2; W. Roderick 2-0/3-4; J. Maughmer 4(1)-11; S. Roderick 1-2; Benson (3)-1/2-10; Noel 6(1)-1/2-16
Totals: 25(6)-6/12-76
Hillsboro: Ward 5-1/3-11; Watson 6(1)-6/10-21; Clark 1(1)-5; Keets 5(1)-13; Mycroft 4-1/2-9; Crawford (1)-3
Totals: 21(4)-8/15-62
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
