Trojan girls 17-1 after crushing Crusaders

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
The Wellington team bus driver got lost trying to find Hillsboro Saturday night. Maybe the driver was doing the Crusaders a favor.


After the bus finally arrived about an hour late, the Wellington girls’ team looked hopelessly lost on the court as the Hillsboro Trojans steamrolled their Class 5A opponents, 57-15, at Tabor Gymnasium.


With the win, the fifth-ranked Trojans raised their season record to 17-1.


Wellington managed only four points the entire second half against the Trojan defense. The Crusaders’ defense, meanwhile, was helpless to stop Hillsboro’s Angela Herzet, who scored 26 points-18 in the third quarter alone-in a thoroughly lopsided contest.


“Last night (against Ellinwood) I didn’t really have the greatest game, and the rest of my team really stepped up,” said the 5-10 senior. “I guess tonight I just kind of had it in my head that I was going to be back up there with them.”


Hillsboro started slowly. The Crusaders scored the first three points of the game while the Trojans struggled to make a basket. But a steal by Dionne Jost keyed a layup by Shannon Kroeker with 4:01 left in the first quarter to break the ice for Hillsboro.


Kroeker had seven points by the end of the quarter and HHS led 13-7. Herzet offered a clue of what was to come with eight points in the third quarter as Hillsboro took control of the game and led 27-11 at halftime.


The Crusaders’ Cherity Clift scored on a driving layup to start the third quarter. It turned out to be Wellington’s last field goal of the game.


Herzet, who was the beneficiary of some great feeds from her teammates, took over offensively and scored all 18 of Hillsboro’s points on six field goals and six of eight free throws.


“We ran four-out (offensive pattern),” she said. “I’m the only one in the middle, but it opens up the outside a lot, too, for our guards. That way we have an inside and an outside game. It started to work, so we just stayed with it.”


The Trojans led 45-13 after when the quarter ended.


Even with reserves taking over in the final quarter, Hillsboro still dominated, giving up only a pair of free throws to Wellington’s Kristin Cooper while scoring 12 more points.


Defensively, the Trojans registered 21 steals and three blocked shots.


“When we scored, I felt like they couldn’t handle the ball very well,” coach Becky Carlson said. “The key was just putting the pressure on them. I felt we did a great job of that.”


The Trojans shot 42 percent from the field. Kroeker, with 14 points, was the only other Trojan to break double figures. She and her teammates amassed 14 assists.


“I thought we saw the floor real well and we did a lot of good things tonight,” Carlson said.




HHS 50, Ellinwood 40


Hillsboro overcame cold first-half shooting to get past a pesky Ellinwood team, 50-40, Friday night in Ellinwood.


Despite having a clear talent advantage over the 1-14 Eagles, the Trojans trailed by two points at halftime, 19-17, thanks in part to 6-of-25 shooting through the first two quarters.


But the Trojans, finally finding ways to score inside, took control of the game with a 15-5 third quarter. Angela Herzet had three baskets in the paint-her first and only buckets of the night-and Julie Hett added two others to fuel the Trojans.


“We had trouble hitting our shots the first half, and when you can’t hit your shots, you get frustrated everywhere in your game,” coach Becky Carlson said.


“I thought in the second half we got more movement on our offense and we got some easier baskets,” she added. “We had the ball outside, and then when they came out after us, we took the ball inside.”


The Trojans stayed in the game in the first half mostly on 3-point bombs. Jill Hein nailed two in the first quarter, which ended 8-8. Amber Hefley buried one midway through the second quarter to pull Hillsboro back to within a point, 12-11, after a couple of Eagle baskets gave them the lead.


Hett then scored the Trojans’ last six points in the half. The senior finished with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting to lead Hillsboro.


Hein finished with 15 points on five 3-pointers in eight attempts.


With the win, HHS finished Mid Division play with a perfect 8-0 record.




HHS 48, Sterling 28


The Trojans saved their best quarter for the end and clinched the MCAA Mid Division title with a convincing 48-28 win over Sterling Tuesday night in Brown Gymnasium.


With the win, the Trojans moved to 7-0 in the division with one game to play, while runnerup Sterling finished division play at 5-3.


An 11-0 run gave HHS an 11-4 lead after one quarter. The Trojans pushed the advantage to 22-10 by halftime.


After two buckets by Angela Herzet and one by Julie Hett extended the lead to 28-12 with 5:20 to go in the third quarter, Sterling rallied and pulled to within nine points, 32-23, by quarter’s end.


Hillsboro shut the door quickly in the opening minute of the fourth quarter on two backdoor buckets by Shannon Kroeker. Nicolle Galyon responded with a bucket for Sterling, but the Trojans mounted a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to put the game out or reach.


Six Trojans contributed points for the 16-5 fourth-quarter knockout.


“We just found more ways to score,” coach Becky Carlson said about her team’s strong finish. “We really struggled for a while in the third quarter.”


A defensive key for HHS was holding Sterling star Crystal Pitts to only seven points. The few times the 5-8 senior managed an open look at the basket, her shot was off the mark.


“She always takes two dribbles to the right, then goes left, and we were trying to stop that,” Carlson said. “I think for her to have to play as hard on defense as she has to, and then to bring the ball up on offense, that’s hard to do.”


Kroeker led the Trojans with 13 points. Angela Herzet added 10 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.


As a team, Hillsboro shot 40 percent from the field and committed only nine turnovers.


Carlson said she was pleased but not surprised by the final margin.


“We’re a lot better than we were when we played them the first time,” she said.


Coming-The Trojans were scheduled to play Smoky Valley in Lindsborg yesterday. Results should be available today on the Free Line (947-3363) and the Free Press Web site (old.hillsborofreepress.com.)


On Thursday, the Trojans finish their regular-season schedule with a makeup game against the state-ranked Hesston Swathers in Hesston.


Hillsboro will open sub-state play on Tuesday in Hillsboro against an opponent yet to be named. The sub-state semifinals and finals will be played at Southeast of Saline High School on Friday and Saturday.

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