That the score was that close at the end speaks to the heart of a Trojan squad that, throughout the season, combined talent, hustle and determination to roll up 21 victories, including two over Hesston.

Unfortunately, that squad didn't show up until the Trojans were trailing the Swathers by a mind-boggling 17 points in the early minutes of the third quarter.

The Trojan team that allowed the game to get out of hand was misfiring-sometimes from point-blank range-on the offensive end and was a half-step slow on the defensive end, allowing Hesston to score almost at will in the paint.

"We just came out flat tonight," coach Darrel Knoll said. "I don't know why things weren't going well, but we didn't move well, we didn't make shots, we didn't get the ball inside until we were well down (on the scoreboard).

"But Hesston played really hard and created their breaks," he added. "We just dug ourselves too deep of a hole."

At the start, Kyle Kroeker got the Trojan fans on their feet with a stick-back of an Eric Weinbrenner miss 21 seconds into the contest.

But Hesston reeled off 10 unanswered points, thanks in part to six misses by Hillsboro. In fact, the Trojans didn't score until Daniel Deckert hit a 3-pointer at the 3:01 mark to make the score 10-5.

It took a basket by Weinbrenner in the last second of the period to pull the Trojans to within six points at the first break, 15-9.

Hillsboro had overcome slow starts before, but this one continued into the second quarter.

The Swathers' Derrick Klassen struck an ominous note when he started the period with a rare four-point play.

Hillsboro's Deckert responded with seven points during the remainder of the quarter, but the team's shaky shooting from the floor followed it to the free-throw line, where Hillsboro managed only two makes in six attempts.

Meanwhile, Hesston scored four times in the paint and built a 27-17 lead by intermission.

As the two teams returned to the court to start the third period, Trojans fans were hoping their team had found a cure for whatever was ailing it.

Instead, the Swathers compounded the agony with seven unanswered points in the first 2:03 to inflate their lead to a commanding 34-17.

But just when Hillsboro's cause appeared terminal, a basket in the paint by Derek Hamm at the 5:44 mark suddenly revived the Trojan squad its fans knew and loved.

Over the next three minutes, Hillsboro pieced together one of the most explosive comebacks in memory, outscoring Hesston 17-2.

Kroeker led the attack with six points, but six Trojans had contributed points by the time Hesston coach Ty Rhodes called a timeout at the 2:36 mark. By then, his team's lead had shriveled to two points, 36-34, and the Hillsboro crowd was roaring its approval.

Whatever Rhodes said during the timeout seemed to stabilize his shell-shocked team. From that point on, the Swathers more or less traded points with Hillsboro until the final buzzer sounded.

Several times in the fourth period, the Trojans closed the gap to two points, then had opportunities to pull even but could not convert them. The last time was with 2.1 seconds left on a basket by Derek Hamm.

After a Trojan timeout, Hesston tried to beat the Hillsboro press with an inbounds heave to Grady Pauls, who was sprinting down the court. It appeared the pass was overthrown and heading out of bounds, which would have given the Trojans the ball on their own end line if the pass was untouched.

But Lucas Hamm was called for a foul as he tried to defend. Pauls sank both free throws for the final margin and the gallant Trojan comeback ended unfulfilled-as did the team's dream of a possible state tournament run.

"I'm proud of the guys for fighting back," Knoll said. "We just never could quite get the lead. We had chances, we had good shots to make right there at the end. But we just didn't make any of them."

Deckert finished the game and his HHS career with a team-high 14 points. Junior Kyle Kroeker added 11. The other two senior starters, Weinbrenner and Derek Hamm, added nine and eight points, respectively.

As a team, the Trojans finished with a respectable 43-percent accuracy on field-goal attempts (20-46), aided by an 8-for-11 third quarter.

Hesston (17-6) made 18 of 33 attempts for a steamy 55 percent. Klassen led a balanced attack with 12 points and Pauls added 11.

The Trojans completed an outstanding season with a 21-2 mark-the fifth-best winning percentage for a Knoll team in his 17 seasons.

"It was a great year," he said. "It's unfortunate that a couple of these guys know they didn't play as well as they played most of the year, and that's got to hurt for them.

"Nevertheless, I'm proud of the character of this team," Knoll added. "A lesser team would have been beaten pretty badly tonight, especially when we got down by 17 in the third quarter.

"That's just the way it goes."

Semifinals vs. Lyons

Hillsboro's rematch with Lyons didn't come down to a last-second shot this time, but the Trojans still had their hands full in securing a 58-48 semifinals victory Friday over a quick and talented Lion team in its own den.

In their mid-January encounter, the Lions led for much of the game, and it took a 3-pointer by Patrick Harrison at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 54-51 victory.

On this night, the game followed a different script. Hillsboro led for all but a brief period in the first quarter. The lead grew as large as 17 points with less than three minutes left in the game.

Still, given the perimeter-shooting prowess of Lyons' outstanding guards, Blaine Clark and Kevin Sechrist, few Trojans fans felt secure until the waning minutes.

"Our goal was to not let Clark and Sechrist have an open look," Knoll said. "I thought if we could keep them in front of us and not let them get off on those screens, we'd have a good chance."

The Trojans' execution was mostly successful. Clark still finished with a game-high 18 points, but Sechrist managed only three.

"Clark did a nice job of finding some open shots in the first half," Knoll said. "He's a pretty tough player.

"Sechrist really struggled to get a look, but Dan (Deckert) was on him and anytime Dan is on you, you're going to struggle. Kyle (Kroeker) did an outstanding job with him, too."

In a fast-paced start, Hillsboro took a 12-8 lead by hitting the first four shots it fired-all 3-pointers. Eric Weinbrenner nailed the first one, Kroeker stroked the next two and Deckert hit the fourth one.

But Lyons came back with Sechrist's only basket of the night-a 3-pointer-and a 2-point and 3-point basket by Clark to give the Lions their only lead at 15-12.

Harrison answered with a basket in the paint and Deckert hit a 10-foot jumper to put Hillsboro on top at the first break, 16-15.

A 6-0 surge to start the second quarter gave the Trojans some breathing room at 22-15. Hillsboro extended the lead to 32-24 at intermission with the help of 3-pointers from Kroeker and Weinbrenner.

Lucas Hamm stepped up in a big way for Hillsboro during the third quarter, scoring 10 of the Trojans' 15 points en route to a 47-35 lead at the final break. The sophomore forward nailed a 3-pointer, made all four of his free-throw attempts and completed a traditional 3-point play to give Hillsboro a critical boost.

"I thought it was key that we managed to get a decent cushion in the third quarter," Knoll said. "I was really pleased with how hard we played."

That cushion enabled Hillsboro to run some time off the clock early in the fourth quarter. In each of its first two possessions, Hillsboro trimmed off more than a minute with perimeter passing, then cashed in with open layups by Derek Hamm and Deckert.

After Lyons missed the front end of consecutive one-and-one opportunities, a free throw by Deckert at the 2:54 mark gave Hillsboro its largest lead at 52-35.

Lyons put on a late charge, though, fueled by eight points on a great individual effort by Cameron Simms, to shrink the final margin to 10 points.

"I thought we played a tremendous game and played to win until the last minute or two, when we made the game a little more interesting," Knoll said. "Lyons didn't give up and quit.

"I thought (Simms) played really hard," he said about the 6-foot-1 junior. "He hit the boards hard, he's quick on his move. I thought he was one of the better players on the floor tonight."

For the game, Lyons actually outshot the Trojans from the field, 53 percent (18-34) to 41 percent (15-37). But Hillsboro enjoyed a huge advantage at the foul line. The Trojan made 20 of 24 free throws while Lyons made seven of only 10 opportunities.

Lucas Hamm led a quartet of double-digit scorers for Hillsboro with 16 points on 3-for-8 shooting from the floor and 9-for-11 accuracy at the line. Deckert added 12 points while Weinbrenner and Kroeker each scored 11.

Simms' burst in the fourth quarter gave him 16 points for the game to join Clark as the only Lions to score in double figures.

"We really played a smart game tonight," Knoll said. "I was very pleased with the effort. We just know we have to be ready tomorrow night, too."