Both Trojan teams played well in spots and never quit, but on the whole both teams lacked the consistency needed to pull an upset.

The Hillsboro girls rallied from a 21-point deficit late in the third quarter and narrowed the final margin of their loss to 47-35. Hillsboro led 6-5 through the first 5:30 of the game, before Collegiate spurted to an 11-7 lead by the first break. By halftime, the Spartans had inflated the margin to 23-9.

A flurry of seven HHS turnovers over a 2:30 stretch late in the third period helped Collegiate build its largest lead of the night at 40-18 at the 1:32 mark. But the Trojans played perhaps their best basketball in the final period to finish on a positive note.

Dakota Kaufman, the only Trojan to break double digits, scored 19 for Hillsboro, who dropped to 8-10 for the season and 5-4 in league play. Collegiate improved to 15-3 and 8-1.

In the boys’ contest, Hillsboro got off to a slow start, committing turnovers during each of its first three possessions. Clay Shewey hit the Trojans’ only field goal of the period when he drained a 3-pointer at the 4:11 mark. The Trojans trailed 14-4 at the first break.

Hillsboro stepped up its game in the second period, though, and pulled itself into contention by halftime at 24-19.

Unfortunately, the Trojans started poorly again in the third period, committing four turnovers and missing seven of its first eight shots, which enabled the Spartans to build the margin to 35-21 with 3:12 left in the period. Collegiate led 43-32 after three quarters.

The Spartans took control of the contest with a 6-1 run to start the fourth quarter and finished with a 56-44 victory.

David Loewen led HHS with 15 points and Shewey finished with 12 as Hillsboro dropped to 10-8 and 6-3 and state-ranked Collegiate improved to 16-2 and 9-0.