ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
With Hillsboro front-liners JuliAnne Chisholm and Tina Frick providing the points, the Hillsboro Trojans used a strong first half to defeat previously unbeaten Hoisington, 39-22, Friday at Brown Gymnasium.
Chisholm scored 15 of her game-high 17 points and Frick added eight of her 11 as the Trojans, now 6-1 for the season, rolled to a 26-8 lead by intermission of their first game of 2007.
Another key factor was a defensive team effort by Hillsboro that limited the visitors to four baskets in 24 attempts through the first two quarters.
“They didn’t shoot the ball very well, and their shots weren’t all that bad,” coach Dale Honeck said of the Cardinals, now 6-1.
The game was a mismatch almost from the start. Frick scored the first basket 37 seconds into the contest and Chisholm added two more by the 4:50 mark for a 6-0 Hillsboro lead.
The only points Hoisington managed came on a pair of free throws with 2:35 left in the quarter. The Trojan twosome Chisholm and Frick each scored four more points to establish a 14-2 margin by the first break.
Five more points from Chisholm to start the second period pushed the lead to 19-2 before the Cardinals showed a spark of life with a 6-1 surge over a three-minute stretch midway through the quarter.
But Lora Andrews, the only other Trojan to break into the scoring column in the first half, scored three points while Chisholm and Frick each added one more basket to give Hillsboro its 26-8 margin at intermission.
The Trojans enjoyed their largest lead of the night-21 points-when Frick began the half with a traditional three-point play 35 seconds into the third quarter.
With the game well in hand, Honeck substituted freely almost the entire second half. Partly as a result, neither team shot well from the floor during the third quarter. The Cardinals did compile a 7-0 run of that finally ended when Hillsboro’s Samantha Heinrichs made all three free throws after she was fouled on a shot from behind the arc with 55.8 second left in the period.
The two teams combined for 4-of-26 shooting during the quarter, and the Trojans still led by 17 points at the final break, 32-15.
Honeck said he was a little surprised the game wasn’t more competitive.
“I thought coming into this game, this would be a pretty tough game,” Honeck said. “Our kids did everything I asked them to do-even if it wasn’t always pretty.
“And we had a chance for everybody to have some significant time on the court, where they could play and repeat. It was a good game for that.”
Chisholm’s leadership on the offensive end has been consistently strong over the past several games, but Honeck was particularly pleased with the contributions from Frick on this night.
“Tina Frick played a really good game, and if she could have sustained her intensity a bit more she was on her way to having one of the best games she’s had,” he said.
“But it’s hard to play a game like this because kids are in and out and the (lineup) combinations are mixed up.”
Coming-With Tuesday off, the Trojans will travel Friday for a game at Ellinwood (1-5) before beginning action in the Trojan Classic next week.
For the first time in the three years the Classic has added girls to the format, the field will include a full eight teams competing in a bracket-play format.
Also competing are Hesston (6-1), Riley County (6-1), Republic County (6-2), Thomas More Prep (4-4), Sunrise Academy (5-8), Marion (2-5) and Wamego (0-6).
Hillsboro, with the No. 1 seed, will open tournament play at 8:15 p.m. Monday against Wamego.
