Hillsboro lost both ends of their doubleheader with Hesston Friday night at Brown Gymnasium. The girls lost to the Swathers 48-37 while the Trojan boys came up on the short end of a hard-fought game, 51-40.
In the girls? contest, the Trojans battled the Swathers toe to toe through the first 11 minutes. But with Hillsboro trailing 12-11 with 5:13 left in the half, Hesston burst through with a 9-0 run over the next 2:30 to put the Trojans in a hole they never could escape — despite holding the Swathers to three points in the third quarter.
Trailing 29-16 at the half, the Trojan defense contributed to nine Swather turnovers in the third quarter. But the offense struggled to take advantage of the opportunity as the Trojans managed only seven points themselves and still trailed by nine at the final break.
Hesston free-throws kept Hillsboro at bay down the stretch as the Trojans dropped to 5-9 for the season with their fifth straight loss and to 2-3 in league play. Hesston improved to 10-3 and 5-0.
In the boys? battle, Hillsboro played the state-ranked Swathers to a standoff through the first half to trail by a thin 28-26 margin.
Hesston pushed the margin to 41-33 after three quarters with a 7-3 surge over the last 5:40 of the period — a pivotal stretch where Hillsboro made only one of eight shots from the floor and committed four turnovers.
With Hesston scoring the only points — three free throws — over the final 4:00 of the third quarter, the Swathers built an 11-point lead by the final break and the weary Trojans never mounted a serious threat down the stretch.
Daniel Jost led Hillsboro with 15 points and David Loewen added 11. The loss drops Hillsboro to 8-6 overall and 4-1 in league play while Hesston improved to 11-1 and 5-0.
