ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DR
The Hesston girls’ and boys’ validated their state rankings with wins over Hillsboro Thursday night. The Trojan girls lost for only the second time this season, 50-37; the Trojan boys fell 55-48.
The Hillboro girls struggled from the floor (33 percent for the night), missing a handful shots from point-blank range. Hesston, meanwhile, had success scoring underneath for much of the night.
The Swathers led 15-8 after one quarter, 23-17 at the half, amd 36-26 after three quarters. Their biggest lead of the game was 17 points in the third quarter.
Shannon Kroeker scored 14 and Julie Hett 12 to pace the Trojans, who finish 18-2.
The Hillsboro boys, meanwhile, came out tentative against the Swathers, and Hesston jumped to a 15-6 lead after one quarter and 27-17 at the half. Hesston led by as many as 13, 27-14, until Grant Brubacher hit a 3-pointer to close the gap to 10 points at intermission.
The good news for Hillsboro is that they battled the powerful Swathers dead even in the second half. Nathan Fish came alive offensively, scoring all of his team-high 11 points in the last two quarters.
With the loss, Hillsboro finished the regular season at 12-8.
WEB FLASH: Hesston sweeps HHS (Feb. 22)
