Win streak ends as Trojan girls fall to Sterling, 54-45

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY BRIAN HUXMAN
The Hillsboro High School girls? basketball team saw its five-game win streak snapped Friday night by the Sterling Black Bears, 54-45.

The Trojans struggled on offense throughout most of the back-and-forth contest.

?I thought we had a hard time getting going on offense tonight,? coach Becky Carlson said. ?I don?t know if it had to do with senior night and we were just too emotionally drained or what, but we really struggled to get in a flow.?

The Trojans led 24-20 at halftime and 31-20 heading into the fourth quarter. But Sterling junior Crystal Pitts scored 12 points in the final quarter, including four free throws in the final 27 seconds, to help Sterling pull away.

?They did a nice job at the free throw line at the end of the game, and that makes it difficult to comeback,? Carlson said.

As a team, Sterling hit 16 of 17 free throws, including nine-of-10 in the final 1:43.

Hillsboro stayed close until the end. Sophomore Jill Hein?s 3-pointer with 2:27 left and another with 1:15 to go kept the Trojans close. The second trey brought Hillsboro back within four at 49-45 after it appeared Sterling would pull away.

But Hillsboro could not generate the turnovers it needed and Sterling was too hot from the foul line to let the Trojans back in the game.

?I guess it is always better to lose now than it is in sub-state or at state,? Carlson said. ?I hope we got this out of our system now.?

Hillsboro, which dropped to 14-3 on the season and 6-1 in the Mid Division, was led by Angela Kroeker with 17 points. Hein added 14, including four 3-pointers.

Hillsboro returned to action Tuesday night at Ellinwood. For a report of that game, check the Free Press online edition at old.hillsborofreepress.com.

Collegiate?Although you wouldn?t have expected it after their runaway first encounter, the Trojan girls? basketball team had a hard time putting the Spartans away Tuesday night.

Collegiate stayed within striking distance throughout the contest, but Hillsboro had enough firepower to pull away late with a 62-46 win.

?They gave us a very tough game,? coach Becky Carlson said. ?We had to get after them and really put on some pressure. Their guards especially played very well against us.?

The Trojans led by just three at halftime, but came out on fire in the second half, pulling away late in the third quarter on 3-pointers from Angela Kroeker and Sara Janzen to take a 44-33 lead at quarter?s end.

Collegiate couldn?t get closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter.

?They gave us a hard time with their defensive pressure and they did a great job of handling our press,? Carlson said. ?I think our pressure hurt them also and didn?t let them get into their offense the way they wanted to.?

Kroeker stepped up throughout the game, scoring a game-high 21 points for the Trojans and hitting shots at key times.

?I just thought everybody that played for us tonight played well,? Carlson said. ?Angela did a nice job scoring and stepping up her game.?

Janzen added nine points, followed by Shannon Kroeker and Angela Herzet with eight each.

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