Sophomore Ben Bebermeyer came off the bench and scored 18 points in the first half, and a team-high 22 for the game to spark the Hillsboro boys to a 70-36 win at Hoisington on Tuesday night (Jan. 6).
The Trojan girls, meanwhile, never did find their spark, and dropped a 37-24 decision to the Cardinals.
In the boys? contest, Hillsboro led only 4-0 through the first three minutes, despite forcing four consecutive Hoisington turnovers to start the contest. Bebermeyer then entered the game and drained a 3-pointer at the 4:56 mark.
He added two more 3-pointers and a 2-pointer before the quarter was over, accounting for half of the scoring in the Trojans? 22-5 lead at the first break.
It was apparent by that point the Hillsboro had a clear edge over a younger and smaller Cardinal team. After a slow start, Clay Shewey warmed up in the second period with seven points and Bebermeyer added two more threes — plus a free throw when he was fouled draining the second one for his 18 first-half points — as Hillsboro inflated the lead to 45-16 by intermission.
Hillsboro led 60-25 after three quarters and played the final period with a continuous clock.
Complementing Bebermeyer?s 22 points for the game were David Loewen, who dominated the paint and finished with 13 points for the night, and Daniel Jost, who scored 12.
The win boosts Hillsboro?s record to 4-2 for the season and 1-0 in the MCAA.
The girls? game was a recurring theme for the Trojans — pretty good play on the defensive end but a real struggle to score.
Dakota Kaufman hit the first basket of the game 17 seconds after tipoff, and scored the Trojans? only other two baskets over the next five minutes. At that points the score was tied a 6-6 before Hoisington edged into the lead 9-8 by quarter?s end.
Hillsboro enjoyed its last lead of the night when Tiffany Rooker sank a 15-footer with 2:11 left in the half for a 14-13 advantage. Hoisington came back with four unanswered points for a 17-14 lead at intermission.
The Trojans seemed to lose steam in the second half as the Cardinals built an 8-2 ?slow surge? in the second quarter until Candace Weinbrenner, who scored Hillsboro?s first two points of the quarter, banked in a 3-pointer with four seconds left to pull Hillsboro back to within a 25-19 margin.
Hoisington pulled slowly but steadily away in the final frame to claim the 13-point win.
Kaufman scored 10 points and was the only Trojan to break double digits as Hillsboro dropped to 3-3 for the season and 0-1 to open league play.
