HHS girls lose, HHS boys win in first round of Trojan Classic

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DR
The Hillsboro girls’ and boys’ basketball teams opened their Trojan Classic experience with different outcomes Tuesday night.



The Trojan girls, playing against the consensus No. 1 team in Class 3A, Riley County, gave the Falcons about all they could handle but came up short in the end, 42-33.



Hillsboro trailed Riley 10-6 after one quarter, but came back to tie the game by halftime at 20. The third quarter proved pivotal as Megan Starnes scored 10 of her game-high 24 points to fuel her team to a 35-26 advantage at the end of the period.



The Trojans could get no closer than 9 points in the final quarter.



To their credit, the Trojan defense, led by JuliAnne Chisholm, held standout Kelsey Nelson to just 8 points for the night. But Starnes filled the vacuum for the Falcons, who are now 10-0 for the season.



Chisholm lef the Trojan offense with 11 points. Hillsboro is now 4-5 for the season and will take on Cair Paravel-Latin of Topeka at 6 p.m. Thursday in the second round of pool play. If they win, they likely will play for third place on Saturday.



The HIllsboro boys, meanwhile, stayed unbeaten at 9-0 with an impressive 78-60 win over a scrappy Belleville squad. The Trojan didn’t lead in the game until Lucas Hamm nailed a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left in the opening period to give HHS a 14-13 lead at the first break.



But a 25-point explosion in the second quarter, including 11 points from Eric Weinbrenner, put Hillsboro on top by seven at intermission, 39-32.



Hillsboro, with great ball movement and good shooting, slowly but surely extended its lead through the second half — leading 56-33 after three quarters and finally 78-60 at the end of the game.



The win places the Trojans in the championship semifinals on Friday . At 6 p.m. they will take on Thomas More Prep, who defeated Wamego, 58-51.

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