CHILLICOTHE — The Hillsboro Indians traveled to Southeastern High School on Saturday and battled the Zane Trace Pioneers in a Division II Southeast Sectional Final game but lost 51-48 despite leading by as many as six points in the fourth quarter of play.
Hillsboro struck first in the game when Ryan Scott hit a jumper less than 20 seconds into the first quarter and the Indians were able to maintain control for much of the frame.
With 4:37 to play in the first Zane Trace took the lead on a three pointer by Cam Evans who followed up with two made free throws just over a minute later to give the Pioneers at 10-6 lead with 3:13 to play.
Scott answered for the Indians less than a minute later when he hit a jumper off of a nice feed by Mason Swayne and Brad Miller flew in for an offensive rebound and put back a short time later to tie the game at 10 where it would stay for the remainder of the first.
Consecutive layups by Colby Swain in the first minute of the second quarter gave the Pioneers a narrow four point lead at 14-10 with 7:16 to play before halftime.
With 5:21 to play in the second quarter Hillsboro’s Miller ended a scoring drought of nearly two minutes for both teams when he finished a layup inside off of another nice feed from Swayne to cut the lead to two points.
Chad Ison answered with a three pointer for the Pioneers before Swayne hit consecutive shots for Hillsboro as the Indians cut the lead to one point at 17-16 with under three minutes remaining before halftime.
Ison hot a pull up jumper for Zane Trace to extend the lead back to three points for the Pioneers and prompted Hillsboro Head Coach Bruce Miles to call time with 1:54 left in the second quarter.
Following the timeout by the Indians Scott hit a htree pointer with 1:10 to play that tied the game at 19 but Zane Trace’s Swain was fouled on a made layup and sank the ensuing free throw with 10 seconds to play in the quarter to send the Indians to the locker room trailing 22-19.
Miller opened the third quarter with another offensive rebound and put back and the teams traded buckets over the first five minutes of the third quarter until Miller converted two shots from the charity stripe to tie the game at 28.
On the ensuing possession Hillsboro’s Scott stole the ball and rushed down court for a fast break layup that gave the Indians their first lead since the opening quarter at 30-28.
Zane Trace tied the game on a layup with 2:46 to play in the third but another offensive rebound and putback by Miller along with a layup while being fouled and subsequent made free throw by Scott gave Hillsboro a five point lead at 35-30 with 1:50 left in the quarter.
Consecutive layups by the Pioneers cut the Hillsboro lead to one before Gavin Temple converted a layup late in the quarter gave Hillsboro a 37-34 lead after three.
Zane Trace struck first in the final period to cut the Indians’ lead to one point at 37-36 before Scott hit a jumper and Ethan Watson hit a pull up three pointer to give Hillsboro it’s biggest lead of the game at 42-36.
The Indians were able to maintain their edge until Evans hot a pull up jumper with 1:44 to play in the game that gave the Pioneers a 47-46 lead.
A charging foul on Watson ended Hillsboro’s next possession and allowed Evans to convert two free throws after being fouled at the other end that pushed the ZT lead to 49-46.
Swayne had the final points of the night for Hillsboro with 19 seconds to play as he converted both shots on a one and one opportunity at the line to cut the lead to one point at 49-48.
The Pioneers missed two of four free throws in the final 18 seconds of play but an offensive rebound by Zane Trace after the first miss led to two more opportunities at the line for the Pioneers. Hillsboro had nearly three seconds on the clock but were unable to get a shot off as the buzzer sounded with the Pioneers taking the win at 51-48.
Score by quarters
HHS 10-19-18-11
ZTHS 10-22-12-17
Hillsboro: Swayne 3-2/2-8; Temple 1-2; Scott 6(1)-1/1-16; Watson 2(2)-10; Miller 5-2/3-12
Totals: 17(3)-5/6-48
Zane Trace: Evans 5(3)-6/7-25; Nesser 3-0/1-6; Davidson 1-2; Johnson 1-2; Swain 2-4; Ison 3(1)-3/5-12
Totals: 15(4)-9/13-51
Ryan Applegate is the Sports Editor for The Times-Gazette. Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
