ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
Patrick Harrison’s 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Hillsboro an improbable 54-51 win over an inspired Lyons team Friday in Brown Gymnasium.
Harrison’s game-winner was the most dramatic play of the evening, but this was a night when a variety of Trojans chipped in big plays when the team needed them the most.
An extremely quick Lyons team stayed a half-step ahead of the Trojans through most of game, and it appeared Hillsboro’s undefeated season was in jeopardy when Cameron Simms’ rebound and basket put the Lyons up by six points, 48-42, with less than five minutes to play.
During a Trojan timeout, coach Darrel Knoll encouraged his team to work the ball inside, and Derek Hamm responded with an old-fashioned 3-point play nine seconds after play resumed.
On the Trojans’ next possession, Hamm kicked the ball out to a wide open Eric Weinbrenner, who had missed his first five attempts from the field. But this time, the 5-10 senior drained the shot to tie the score at 48 with 4:10 to go.
Both teams struggled to score over the next three minutes. With Lyons leading, 50-48, Blaine Clark was fouled with 1:01 to play. The normally deadly free-thrower missed the front end of a one-and-one, but got his own rebound and was fouled again with 54.5 seconds left. Positioned to deliver a knock-out punch, Clark made the first free throw but then missed the second one, keeping the Trojans within one shot of the visitors at 51-48.
With 30.6 seconds left, Weinbrenner stepped up big again with his second straight 3-pointer, this one from the left wing, to tie the game at 51.
Clark then missed a field-goal attempt with less than 10 seconds to play. Hillsboro rebounded and then called timeout with 5.1 seconds showing.
The Trojans tried to penetrate the lane for the winning score, but when it closed, the ball came out to a wide-open Harrison, who then launched the game-winner from the right wing.
Early in the game, the Trojans got a huge boost from Kyle Kroeker, who scored seven of Hillsboro’s nine first-quarter points. But six points by Clark fueled the Lyons to a 15-9 lead at the break.
Daniel Deckert stepped up for Hillsboro midway through the second period with six points and Harrison added a pair of 3-pointers. But guards Clark and Kevin Sechrist combined for 10 points to keep the Lions on top at intermission, 31-26.
“I thought they played a really disciplined game, and they do have good players-there’s no doubt about that,” Knoll said about Lyons. “You’ve got to give them credit.
“I thought we came out in the first half a little sluggish defensively,” he added. “We didn’t rotate quite as well as we should have.”
In the third quarter, it was Lucas Hamm’s turn to shine. After Lyons increased its lead to 34-26 on a 3-pointer by Tyler Viramontez to start the third quarter, the sophomore opened the scoring for Hillsboro with basket in the paint at the 7:06 mark.
Over the final 3:40 of the quarter, Lucas Hamm scored all six of Hillsboro’s points to narrow Lyons’ lead to 43-40 heading into the climactic fourth period. Deckert contributed four points during the period.
“The problem tonight was we would give up six or eight points in a row, then we’d bring it down and get tied, then all of a sudden we’d be down by four or five points again,” Knoll said.
“At least we kept playing and didn’t quit. Our character came out again, and I thought we played to win.”
Kroeker finished as the high scorer for Hillsboro with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Right behind him with 10 points each were Deckert and Lucas Hamm.
Harrison, who has been battling a leg injury the past few weeks, finished with 9 points on 3-for-5 shooting from behind the arc. In addition to his timely long-range bombs, the senior transfer sparked the Trojans with great hustle on the defensive end all night long.
“I thought he played with a lot of tenacity and a lot of heart,” Knoll said. “He was going against guys who were maybe a little quicker than he was, and he didn’t back down from it all. He got out there and got after it. That’s what it takes to win ball games, to have that kind of heart.”
Lyons sank 20 of 34 shots from the floor (59 percent), including five of eight from behind the arc. Clark finish with 17 points and Sechrist 14 to pace the Lions, who are now 6-4 for the season and third in league play at 3-1.
As a team, Hillsboro shot 47 percent from the field, including eight of 20 3-point attempts. The Trojans had only nine free-throw opportunities and made four while Lyons was 13-19.
The Lyons out-rebounded Hillsboro, 27-18.
“That was the thing I thought we did the worst down the stretch-rebounding key rebounds that were ours and somehow we didn’t hang on to them,” Knoll said.
But the Trojan coach said he was pleased with his team’s effort, particularly in the second half.
“I thought in the second half we really had a lot more spring in our step, we made some plays on steals and made it tougher on them,” he said.
The win boosted Hillsboro’s record to 8-0 for the season and put them into a tie for the league lead at 3-0.
“One good thing about having to win like this is that we understand we have to come to play. There’s no chance for us to let down right now. We know that teams are going to compete against us, and we want to compete.”
Coming-The Trojans took their No. 1 seed against No. 8 seeded Belleville in their Trojan Classic opener on Tuesday. Coverage of that game will appear in this week’s Free Press Extra, which will be on newsstands late Thursday afternoon.
If the Trojans won that game, they will play in the championship semifinals at 6 p.m., Friday. If they lost, they will play in the consolation semifinals at 4:30 p.m., Thursday.