Trojans prevail for a pair of victories over Sterling (Feb. 9)

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DR
Neither the girls’ or boys’ games were a work of art, but in the end the Trojans came away with the most important accomplishment — a pair of victories against teams they needed to beat.



In the girls’ game, Hillsboro led 6-4 after one quarter and 24-15 by halftime. The lead was still nine after three quarters, 34-25. But with four of Hillsboro’s five starters watching from the bench, Sterling mounted a rally that brought them to within 36-34 with 5:00 to play. Coach Dale Honeck put his starters back in at that point, but Sterling scored a basket and a pair of free throws to move ahead, 38-36 with 3:15 to play.



A basket by Tina Frick with 3:03 to go seem to kick the Trojans back in gear as they finished with a 9-0 run to claim the victory, thanks in no small part to their defensive pressure.



JuliAnne Chisholm led the Trojans with 17 points, but Amy Neufeld’s 13 points off the bench was a big lift for Hillsboro, which improved to 13-3.



The boys’ 31-22 victory was a a low-scoring contest from the get-go — mostly because of the Trojans’ aggressive defense. While Sterling played hard, the Trojans simply struggled to get the ball in the hole on the offensive end.



The scores at the quarters were7-5, 12-9, and 19-13 before Hillsboro finally opened a double-digit lead at 27-16 with 3:07 to play. Sterling’s Kaleb Humphreys then hit a couple of open 3-pointers to make it interesting again, but the Trojans hung on for the nine-point win.



Tyler Kaufman came off the bench to score nine points for Hillsboro, which was the team’s most productive effort on offense.



The victory improved Hillsboro’s record to 7-9 for the season.

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