The Hillsboro High School girls varsity basketball team appears to be an up and coming program in the Frontier Athletic Conference. The lean years seem to be receding into the past under head coach Heather Storer.

It was a closely-contested game Wednesday at HHS with the Miami Trace Lady Panthers and when all was said and done, Hillsboro came away with a 58-56 victory.

Miami Trace senior Jessee Stewart was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points. Stewart had five rebounds, two assists and one steal.

Hillsboro freshman Tylee Davis led a trio of Lady Indians in double figures with 17 points. She connected for two three-point field goals. Hillsboro had four different players make threes. Junior Peighton Bledsoe scored 12 points (with one three) and senior Rylie Scott scored 10 points. She hit one three.

Miami Trace needed a bit more from the free throw line. The Lady Panthers made 10 of 19 at the charity stripe for 53 percent.

Hillsboro fared a little better at the line, going 8 of 14 for 57 percent.

Field goal shooting was close for both teams with Miami Trace making 22 of 58 for 38 percent, while Hillsboro converted 22 of 60 shots for 37 percent.

Hillsboro made 6 of 24 three-point shot attempts for 25 percent to 2 of 13 for 15 percent for Miami Trace.

Offensive rebounds tilted in favor of Miami Trace, 17 to 15.

Hillsboro jumped out to a 10-2 lead after three minutes of play. The Lady Indians led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter. It was 16-10 at the end of the first quarter in favor of Hillsboro as Stewart hit a three-point field goal at the buzzer.

Miami Trace drew to within five points of Hillsboro in the second quarter. Hillsboro was up by as many as 10 and took a 28-20 halftime lead.

Miami Trace began the second half with a 6-0 run. Back-to-back baskets from Stewart tied the game, 30-30, midway through the third quarter. After a free throw by Hillsboro, Stewart scored to give Miami Trace a 32-31 lead with 3:52 to play in the third. At that point, Hillsboro responded with a 7-0 run to take a 38-32 lead. It was 41-36, Hillsboro, heading into the fourth quarter.

Vincent scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Hillsboro countered with four points each from Bledsoe, Kobie Miles and Addyson Miles in the fourth to maintain a precarious lead.

Hillsboro was in front by seven points in the final frame, but Miami Trace wasn’t finished.

Guess, Robinette and Stewart contributed as the Lady Panthers made a final push, tying the game, 53-53, with 1:38 to play. After a basket by Lovett, it was again just a two-point advantage for Hillsboro.

Miami Trace had to foul and Hillsboro went 0 of 2 at the line with 7.3 seconds left. The Lady Panthers advanced the ball upcourt, but the ball was deflected out of bounds by a Hillsboro player, leaving just about 1 second on the clock.

Miami Trace had a tough shot at the buzzer, which was no good, leaving Hillsboro with a 58-56 victory.

“I’m really proud of the girls, the effort they had,” Miami Trace coach Kayla Dettwiller said. “I thought they fought from the tip-off until the end of the game. We told them last night at practice that, we’re going to have to be gritty, we’re going to have to be tough and we’re going to have to work hard for 32 minutes. I thought the girls came out and did that.

“We got in a hole early and we had to expend a lot of energy to get back into it. I think that took a toll over the course of the game. We’re young and we know we have a lot of learning to do. We’re seeing growth every game from the kids. They’re learning to play together.”

Hillsboro’s Storer said, “Our girls’ ability to compete this year has been off the charts. We fight through adversity really well; it doesn’t matter if the game’s going well for us or the other way around. The girls are being ultra-competitive and that’s kind of the name of our game this year — be aggressive, be competitive. That’s what keeps the game going for us.

“Trace has some shooters so we knew they were eventually going to be hitting some shots. They’re ultra-competitive like us; they’re going to be all over the floor, they’re not going to give up and make anything easy for us. Tylee Davis kind of broke out and had a great game for us with 17. Peighton had 12 and Rylie had 10 so just the ability of our girls to score in double digits and, who do you guard.”

Hillsboro improved to 2-3 overall, 1-1 in the FAC.

Miami Trace is 2-3 overall, 1-2 in the conference.

Miami Trace hosts Jackson Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Jackson is 4-0 overall, 2-0 in the FAC.

Hillsboro played at Lynchburg-Clay on Thursday and will host Chillicothe Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 10 10 16 20 — 56

H 16 12 13 17 — 58

MIAMI TRACE — Ellie Robinette 1-0-2; Gracie Lovett 2-4-8; Bella Shull 0-0-0; Jessee Stewart 7 (1)-3-20; Lauren Guess 5-2-12; Ryleigh Vincent 5-1-11; Zoey Grooms 0 (1)-0-3. TOTALS — 20 (2)-10-56. Free throw shooting: 10 of 19 for 53 percent. Three-point field goals: Stewart, Grooms. Field goal shooting: 22 of 58 for 38 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 13 for 15 percent. Rebounds: 45 (17 offensive). Turnovers: 16. Assists: 9. Steals: 7. Fouls: 17.

HILLSBORO — Peighton Bledsoe 3 (1)-3-12; Kobie Miles 3-2-8; Rylie Scott 3 (1)-1-10; Tylee Davis 5 (2)-1-17; Addyson Miles 0 (2)-1-7; Kyra Boyd 1-0-2; Blake Herdman 1-0-2. TOTALS — 16 (6)-8-58. Free throw shooting: 8 of 14 for 57 percent. Three-point field goals: Davis, 2; A. Miles, 2; Bledsoe, Scott. Field goal shooting: 22 of 60 for 37 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 6 of 24 for 25 percent. Turnovers: 12. Offensive rebounds: 15.

Hillsboro wins jayvee game

Hillsboro won the jayvee game, 20-16.

Kiara Boris was the game’s leading scorer for Hillsboro with eight points. Kallie Fraley scored seven points (she hit one three) and Kayla Seeling scored five.

Katy Bock led Miami Trace with seven points. She made one three-point field goal. Allison Reeves scored six points, Elyse Day had two and Cali Kirkpatrick scored one.

Chris Hoppes is the sports editor for the Record-Herald in Washington C.H.