As Dickens might say it, it was the best of starts, it was the worst of starts for the Hillsboro basketball teams Tuesday at Lindsborg. And for each team, the start foretold how the story would end. The Trojan boys jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter of their game and went on to defeat the Vikings, 52-39. Meanwhile, the girls found themselves in a 19-2 hole after one quarter and went on to lose by 34 points, 69-35, to a hot-shooting Viking bunch.
GIRLS — Out of sorts from the start, the Trojans fell behind 12-0 in the first 3:14. The home team made its first five shots from the floor, then sank its first two free throws before Callie Linnens finally broke the curse for Hillsboro with a basket at the 4:27 mark. But it would be Hillsboro?s only basket of the quarter out of 12 shots taken. Smoky Valley, meanwhile, made eight of its nine attempts.
Hillsboro?s best scoring weapon, Alex Ratzlaff, was shut out in the first quarter, but it was Ratzlaff?s offense that kept Hillsboro within sight of the Vikings until the final quarter. Smoky led 30-13 at halftime as the Trojans played the home team even-steven during the second quarter?thanks in large part to Ratzlaff?s eight points.
A miserable start to the third quarter found Hillsboro trailing 41-15 midway through the period on the way to a 48-21 score by the end of the quarter.
Ratzlaff scored 10 of her game-high 24 points in the first five minutes of the final quarter, but with both coaches sending in subs, Smoky Valley finished the game with a 9-0 run.
For the game, the Vikings shot 58 percent shooting from the floor while Hillsboro settled in at 23 percent. The Vikings had three players in double figures, led by Hannah Hattabaugh?s 19 points, while the Trojans? next-highest scorer after Ratzlaff was Rebecca Kauf?man with three points.
With the loss, Hillsboro fell to 2-6 while the Vikings improved to 3-4.
BOYS — David Dick set the tone, hitting a three-point shot 1:03 into the game and igniting the Trojans? 10-0 start. Smoky finally got on the board with 1:07 left in the quarter, but a bucket by Austin Cross gave HHS a 12-2 lead at the first break.
From that point on, though, the two teams played to a near stand-off over the next two quarters. Hillsboro led 25-13 at halftime and 37-24 after three quarters.
The fourth quarter turned into a Jeckyll and Hyde experience for the Trojans. Smoky suddenly found its shooting touch — but also scored some easy buckets by getting behind Trojan defenders — and cut the lead to 37-34 with 5:56 to play.
After Micah Allen scored for Hillsboro, over the next minute and a half the Vikings missed six consecutive shots plus two-of-two free throws. Clearly, the magic had ended for the home team. Allen scored eight consecutive points over the next 1:30 to put the Trojans back in control at 47-34 with 2:28 to go. Smoky made one last 5-0 run before the Trojans ended the contest with a 5-0 run of its own.
Allen led all scorers with 23 points on 9-for-19 shooting. As a team, the Trojans shot with nearly 37 percent success for the night. Cole Norberg led the 32 percent shooting Vikings with eight points. The win bumped Hillsboro?s record to 6-2 while the Vikings fell to 1-6.
