By bunches and bits: HHS Girls Basketball

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
by Don Ratzlaff




Shannon Kroeker scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, enabling the Hillsboro girls to pull away from Ellinwood for a 44-34 win Friday night in Brown Gymnasium.


Both team struggled to put the ball in the hoop during the first half. Ellinwood led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter and the two teams battled to a 15-15 tie at halftime.


Hillsboro managed only five field goals in 21 attempts against Ellinwood’s zone defense through the first two quarters, and that hurt the Trojans on both ends of the floor.


“I thought we moved the ball well, but we couldn’t get our shots to fall,” coach Becky Carlson said. “I don’t think we played badly, but we can’t press if we don’t score and we can’t get into the flow of our game.”


The Trojans spread the court in the second half, which opened opportunities inside for Angela Herzet. The 5-10 senior responded with seven points to fuel Hillsboro to a 30-25 lead after three quarters. She scored 15 on the night.


The Eagles connected on four 3-pointers in the second half to stay in contention. But the Trojans did themselves a big favor but cutting down on their fouls. Ellinwood made only one trip to the free-throw line in the second half and didn’t shoot a one-and-one all night.


“We moved our feet a lot better and we didn’t have as many turnovers tonight either,” Carlson said.


She said her team has been struggling for confidence on offense this season and was pleased they didn’t get down on themselves when the shots weren’t dropping early in the game.


Jill Hein, who came into the game averaging 17.3 points, managed only one field goal in eight attempts for two points, but Kroeker and Herzet stepped up and filled the offensive void for Hillsboro.


“It’s nice to see different people be high scorers,” Carlson said. “The potential is there for any one of those girls to be high scorer. We just take what they give us.”


The win gave Hillsboro a 1-0 start in MCAA Mid Division play and a 4-1 record overall.


Lyons-Jill Hein’s 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds to play lifted Hillsboro past Lyons, 52-50, Tuesday night, Dec. 12, at Brown Gymnasium.


Lyons had taken the lead 50-49 with 49 seconds to play on a bucket in the paint by Deanne Baxter.


Hillsboro’s Shannon Kroeker missed a five-footer with 24 seconds to go, then fouled Lyons’ Sarah Rumler on the rebound. But Rumler missed both free throws.


Hillsboro brought the ball down but threw it away in their forecourt. When Lyons gave it right back on a traveling a call, coach Becky Carlson called timeout with 17 seconds left to set up a final shot.


“We just ran one of our regular plays that we’d been running and getting some shots from,” Carlson said.


“We got the ball inside, they kicked it back out and (Hein) was open, so she took the shot-which is fine. It was an open, good look at the basket and that’s what we wanted.”


The 3-pointer gave Hein 12 points for the quarter and 21 points for the game, providing the offensive spark Hillsboro needed down the stretch.


The Trojans struggled early in the game, giving up a 13-0 run to the Lions midway through the first quarter and trailing 17-8 at quarter’s end.


HHS held Lyons scoreless the last 2:43 of the second quarter and got a bucket by Hein on a nice assist from Kroeker and then a traditional three-point play from Angela Herzet with 6.4 seconds left to pull Hillsboro to within three at halftime, 24-21.


The third quarter belonged to Hillsboro. Herzet scored nine points and Hein and Julie Hett four each to pace the Trojans on the offensive end.


“In the the third quarter, we just came out and kept executing our offense,” Carlson said. “Every time we executed it, we got the basket or at least a shot at the basket that we wanted.When we execute our offense and just keep running it until we get something, we play good basketball.”


Meanwhile, the Trojan defense allowed only one field goal until Baxter hit a 35-foot prayer at the buzzer to bring Ellinwood back to within five at the break, 39-34.


“We were more aggressive in the third quarter as far as getting in the passing lanes,” Carlson said. “We had a hard time putting pressure on (freshman Sierra Radke) because she was such a good driver. But when we let her make the passes and then got in the passing lanes on everyone else, that really helped us a lot.


“I was just glad to see that we won the game,” Carlson said. “We had several good looks at the basket at the end. Even if they didn’t fall, we had the good looks. That’s a start.”


Coming-Hillsboro was scheduled to complete its pre-Christmas schedule Tuesday night on the road against Wichita Collegiate. Results of that game should be available on the Free Line (947-3363) and the Free Press Web site (www.hillsboro-freepress.com).

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