The Hillsboro Lady Indians wrapped up a brief tournament run Monday night at Adena High School against the Logan Elm Lady Braves in a sectional quarterfinal with a final score was 42-33.
Karleigh Hopkins led scoring for the Indians with 9 points on the night.
The first quarter saw Logan Elm jump out to a 9-2 lead over Hillsboro, although it took the better part of three minutes for either team to make it onto the scoreboard. Hopkins scored the Lady Indians’ total of 2 points for the quarter.
Hillsboro was able to thin the Lady Braves’ lead to 3 points by the half, with Hopkins tossing a three, Lana Grover putting up a two, and Kelsey Burns converting one from the freethrow line for a total of 8 points against Logan Elm’s 6.
By the half, the score was 13-10 with the Braves still in the lead.
The Lady Indians reheated their scoring out of the locker room, jumping to a 14-point gain in the third quarter. Riley Moberly tied the score up at 15-15 with a freethrow in the first three minutes of the period, then took a 1-point lead for the Indians moments later with a second conversion. The lead proved to be short-lived, as Logan Elm came back with an offensive set that put the Hillsboro ladies down by 6 before the clock hit one minute. Hopkins, Moberly and Burns brought it back around in the next few moments, though, tightening the score up to 25-24 with the Indians down by 1.
Moberly tied the score again right out of the gate in the final period at 25-25 with a freethrow, but that was the last time the Hillsboro ladies were close enough to take the lead. Burns put up two 2-pointers in the fourth to lead scoring for the Lady Indians.
In the end, the Braves came out on top ahead by 9 at 42-33 by the end of the game. Logan Elm will take on Chillicothe in a sectional semifinal matchup.
Missed freethrows were a theme Monday night, with Hillsboro shooting 10 for 35 from the freethrow line.
“We’ve struggled to make shots all year,” said Hillsboro girls coach JR Moberly. “My kids, my gosh, they played so hard tonight. On the defensive end, and going after the boards, they just played so hard as a group. Got a lot of good individual efforts, but collectively, as a group, they really got after it and played hard, and I told them ‘I want you to be upset with the loss, you should never be happy with a loss, but surely don’t hang your head, because you gave everything you possibly could tonight.’”
Elsewhere, the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats pulled out a win against Sciotoville at Northwest High School in a sectional quarterfinal with a final score of 35-29.
“The scoring was spread around, and it was a good ballgame,” Whiteoak girls coach Randy Abbott told The Times-Gazette. “The girls buckled down late, and they didn’t give up. They pulled it together.”
The Lady Wildcats will advance to a sectional semifinal matchup against Notre Dame Thursday, Feb. 16 at 6:15 p.m. at Northwest High School.
Summary
Logan Elm — 7 6 12 17 — 42
Hillsboro — 2 8 14 9 — 33
LEHS: Hatter 1-3/6-5; Willard 2-2/2-6; Lucas 3-6/7-12; Diehl 4-2/2-10; Paul 2/6-2; Vanhoose (1)-3; Long 1-2; Aderman 1-2
Totals: 12(1)-15/23-42
HHS: Sullivan 2-4; Bobbitt 1-2; Burns 1/3-1; Grover 2-4; Hopkins 2(1)-2/12-9; Marsh 1-2; R. Moberly 5/6-5; Burns 2-2/8-6
Totals: 10(1)-10/35-33
Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.
