ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DR
High school basketball can’t get much more exciting than it was Friday night in Hillsboro’s Brown Gymansium. The Trojans took on two very talented Lyons teams and came away with nail-biting victories.
In the girls’ game, the Trojans came in with a 3-4 record and a lopsided defeat to Hesston on Tuesday and faced a talented 7-2 Lyons squad that featured the league’s leading scorer in Andrea Leiker (24.3 ppg).
Hillsboro played outstanding defense against Leiker and got her to commit her fifth foul when Hillsboro was leading 44-40 with 1:24 to go. Even so, Hillsboro barely hung on for a 49-46 victory, missing the front end of two one-and-ones in the last 35 seconds that would have sewed up the victory. In the end, it took a pair of free throws by sophomore Megan Peachey with 2.1 seconds left to secure the win.
Senior Amy Duerksen stepped up big time with a season high 16 points. Peachey added 11 for the 4-4 Trojans who improved to 2-1 in the MCAA. Lyons falls to 7-3 and 2-2.
Leiker finished with 18 points but only managed 3 field goals in 14 attempts.
The boys’ game proved to be even more dramatic. The Trojans got a 3-point shot from Patrick Harrison at the buzzer to escape with a 51-48 win over the Lions, who came in at 6-3 overall and atop the MCAA with a 3-0 mark.
Hillsboro had all it could handle and more as the Lyons led 15-9 after one quarter and 31-26 at the half. By the end of three quarters, Hillsboro still trailed, 43-40.
With Hillsboro trailing, 50-48 and a minute to play, Lion sharp-shooter Blaine Clark missed the front end of a one-and-one, was fouled again 5 second later and made only one of two foul shots to keep the Trojans within reach at 51-58. Eric Weinbrenner then nailed his second straight 3-pointer of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 51-51 with 30.6 seconds left. Lyons came down and Clark took a shot with the clock ticking down. He missed, and Hillsboro rebounded and called timeout with 5.1 seconds left. Harrison stepped up on the kickout pass and nailed the winning shot as time expired.
Kyle Kroeker and Weinbrenner led a balanced attack with 12 points each while Daniel Deckert and Lucas Hamm each added 10. Harrison finished with 9 points, all of them on 3-pointers.
The win boosts Hillsboro’s record to 8-0 overall and into first place in the MCAA at 3-0.
The Trojans survive a double dose of drama in wins against Lyons
