Hillsboro boys' 14-year win streak vs. Marion comes to an end

Written by DR Thursday, 25 January 2007 18:00

Hillsboro boys' inability to hit free throws at the end of regulation sent their game at Marion into overtime Friday, and the Warriors took advantage of the opportunity to claim a 44-42 win -- Marion's first victory over a Hillsboro boys' team since 1993.

Hillsboro was on top of its game in the first half and built a 26-14 lead by intermission. But Marion pushed their game up a notch and the Trojans lowered their intensity, leading to a 34-34 game through three quarters.

In the fourth quarter, Marion took a 36-34 lead at the start, but Hillsboro rallied and led 42-38 when Tyler Kaufman made one of two free throws with 47.4 seconds left. After Marion's Calvin Jeffrey hit one of two free throws nine second later, Hillsboro had two one-and-one opportunities in the final 31 seconds but missed the front end both times. That opened the door for Jason Hett to drain a 3-pointer with 10.8 seconds left to tie the game at 42. Both teams missed a shot in the final seconds of regulation.

The overtime turned on an officiating call with less than two minutes to go. On a drive to the basket, Jason Hett was called for charging by one official and a jump ball by the other. The officials conferred, and first awarded Hillsboro the ball, then conferred again -- with input from coaches -- and awarded the ball to Marion.

Marion worked the clock down to 12.8 seconds before calling a timeout. With 4.7 seconds left, Travis Hett missed his shot and the ball went out of bounds to Hillsboro under the Marion basket. On the inbounds pass, Jeffrey went over the top of Elliott Soyez to knock the ball away. Travis Hett picked it up and drove hard to the hoop for the winning basket as the buzzer sounded.

The loss dropped Hillsboro's record to 5-7 while Marion improved to 8-4.

In the girls' game, Hillsboro slowly pulled away from Marion and posted a 55-39 victory.

Hillsboro led 13-6 after one quarter and 29-19 by halftime. A dominant third quarter pushed the margin to 45-22 and Hillsboro coach Dale Honeck subbed deeply through the final quarter.

The win improved Hillsboro's record to 10-2 while Marion dropped to 2-10.