Clay Shewey, fully recovered from an ankle sprain on Thursday, poured in 28 points to lead Hillsboro to a 73-61 win at Southeast of Saline in the first round of sub-state play Monday.
Shewey set the tone by hitting the first points of the game—a 3-pointer from the right corner 29 seconds into the contest. The first quarter went back and forth with the Trojans from Hillsboro holding a 16-13 edge at the end of one quarter over the Trojans from Southeast.
After Greg Peterson tied the game at 18 two minutes into the second period, but a 15-footer by Shewey launched a pivotal 16-5 surge that gave Hillsboro momentum and a 34-23 lead at intermission.
By the end of three quarters, Hillsboro had bumped the margin to 50-35. Southeast rallied to pull to within seven, 54-47 with 4:11 left in the game. But Shewey drained another 3-pointer and Hillsboro made 14 of 16 free throws in the final 2:13 to seal the victory.
David Loewen, playing huge in the paint, added 15 points as Hillsboro improved to 12-9 for the season and will meet either Hutchinson Trinity or Reminton in the semifinals at Brown Gymnasium on Thursday.
