HILLSBORO — Senior Hunter Price tallied a game-high 28 points Friday when the Hillsboro Indians opened Frontier Athletic Conference action with a 66-48 victory over Miami Trace.
Two other Hillsboro seniors, Ethan Parry and Quintin Captain, each scored 14 points.
Miami Trace sophomore Garrett Guess led the Panthers in scoring with 13 points. He hit four of his team’s six three-point field goals.
Hillsboro hit the first basket and never trailed in the game, getting out to a 9-2 start. The Indians led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Hillsboro scored 23 points in the second quarter and led 36-22 at the half.
Miami Trace surpassed Hillsboro in scoring by one point in the third quarter, 19-18. The Indians enjoyed a 54-41 lead at the end of three quarters of play.
Hillsboro led by as many as 20 points in the third, while the Panthers were able to fight their way to within as few as 11 points.
Miami Trace was able to get to within 10 points in the fourth quarter, but Hillsboro was always able to respond and quickly end any would-be run by the Panthers.
“This was our first game in defense of our league title,” Hillsboro head coach Miles Burton said. “I’m super proud of the boys tonight. I guess we really had a big lull at the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter. Probably about a five-minute span where the ball wasn’t moving enough on offense; we were settling for the first average shot we could get.
“We have guys who are good bucket-getters, but getting them to recognize when it is time to take that 15-footer and when the time is to get the ball moving, we did a pretty good job of through large portions of the game. (Miami Trace) is a big, physical team, give them credit,” Burton said. “Guthrie and others made it super physical.”
Burton praised top scorer Price.
“Hunter is a heck of a basketball player,” Burton said. “I love him to death and I’m excited to see how much he can improve these next 20-plus games.”
Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said, “Price played a great game tonight. Captain hit some timely shots. I thought their guards out front did a very good job of disrupting what we wanted to do offensively. “We’re very young as a whole. Our young guards got a little sped up at the beginning of the game. We didn’t execute at the level we want to execute at.
“This is all a process for us. We want to win every game, but we’re looking for teaching moments and we’re looking for growth throughout our program. I saw that throughout the 32 minutes tonight.”
Hillsboro will host Chillicothe on Tuesday. The Indians will play at Washington on Friday and at Goshen on Saturday.
Miami Trace (0-3 overall, 0-1 FAC) is home against Jackson on Tuesday, home for Chillicothe on Friday and home for Logan Elm on Saturday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 8 14 19 7 — 48
H 13 23 18 12 — 66
MIAMI TRACE — Shay Salyers 0-0-0; Hayden Hunter 0-0-0; Eli Fliehman 1 (2)-1-9; Braeden Morris 0-0-0; Garrett Guess 0 (4)-1-13; Brady Armstrong 0-0-0; Ashton Connell 1-0-2; Zach Warnock 0-0-0; Bryson Osborne 0-0-0; Austin Boedeker 5-0-10; Bryson Sheets 1-1-3; Andrew Guthrie 4-1-9. TOTALS — 13 (6)-4-48. Free throw shooting: 4 of 8 for 50 percent. Three-point field goals: Guess, 4; Fliehman, 2. Field goal shooting: 19 of 45 for 42 percent. Turnovers: 19.
HILLSBORO —Ethan Parry 2 (3)-1-14; Tate Davis 0-0-0; Quintin Captain 3 (1)-5-14; Steven Kibler 0-0-0; Canaan Griffith 0-0-0; Nick Turner 0-0-0; Bryce Parsons 2-1-5; Bentley Watson 2-1-5; Hunter Price 9 (2)-4-28. TOTALS — 18 (6)-12-66. Free throw shooting: 12 of 15 for 80 percent. Three-point field goals: Parry, 3; Price, 2; Captain. Field goal shooting: 24 of 49 for 49 percent. Turnovers: 7.
Chris Hoppes is the sports editor at the Record-Herald in Washington C.H.
