Hillsboro teams sweep Indians at Larned

The Hillsboro basketball teams made the two-hour ride to Larned worthwhile by bringing home a pair of victories Friday night. The Trojan girls defeated the Indians, 35-28, in a competitive battle, while the Trojan boys overwhelmed the home team, 71-49. The HHS girls now stand at 5-3 and the HHS boys at 7-1.

GIRLS—Larned built a 6-2 lead before the Trojans scored their first field goal of the night at the 4:28 mark of the first quarter. The period ended with Larned leading, 10-8.

A 3-point basket and a free throw gave the Indians their biggest lead of the night at 14-8 about 2:30 into the second quarter. Hillsboro got a 3-point basket by Eva Franz and a 2-point basket by Sienna Kaufman with 54 seconds left to give Hillsboro its first lead of the game at 16-14. Larned’s Lynzi Myrick scored a few seconds later for a 16-16 score at halftime.

The two teams battled neck and neck through the third quarter. With Hillsboro leading 23-22, Kinsey Kleiner hit from behind the arc to give the Trojans a 26-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Hillsboro limited the Indians to six points in the final quarter while scoring nine. Teegan Werth contributed a 3-point basket at the 5:33 mark, then nailed a pair of free-throws with 13.9 seconds to help nail down the seven-point win.

Werth paced Hillsboro with 10 points while Abby Sechrist added eight.

BOYS—The Trojans got off to a fast start, building an 11-3 lead before Larned’s Chance Sanger nailed a 3-point basket at the midway point of the first quarter. But a basket by Elias Werth, two free-throws by Darian Ratzlaff and a basket by Caleb Potucek with 1:10 left gave Hillsboro an uneasy 17-11 lead as the first quarter ended.

When the Indians attacked with a 9-3 surge to start the second quarter, the Trojans found themselves trailing, 20-19, at the 6:24 mark. A basket by Hillsboro’s Wes Shaw moments later ignited an 18-9 surge that carried the Trojans to a 37-29 advantage with one quarter left to play.

Hillsboro dominated that quarter, finishing with a 14-6 surge for their seventh victory of the season against one loss, while Larned slipped to 4-2. The win also gave Hills­boro a 2-0 start to league play.

Werth finished with 18 points to lead Hillsboro’s scoring. Shaw added 14, Ratzlaff 13 and Potucek 11. Elliot Ollenburger made his first appearance of the season coming off a football injury. The senior contributed four points for the team.

COMING—Hillsboro will host Hoisington Tuesday in a Central Kansas League contest at Brown Gymna­sium. The girls’ game will begin at 6 p.m. and the boys’ game around 7:30 p.m.

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