The Hillsboro Trojans were hardly civil hosts on opening night of the Trojan Classic on Tuesday. Both teams treated their guests from Goodland with blowout victories that ended with a continuous clock. The HHS girls won by a score of 52-13 while the boys dominated in a 61-27 contest.
GIRLS — The Goodland girls competed well early in the contest, trailing only 5-4 midway through the first period. But a putback basket by Tena Loewen at the 3:21 mark ignited a 25-5 surge that ended at the halftime buzzer. The assault was fueled in large part by 12 Cowgirl turnovers over the same time span. Krista Reimer chipped in eight points for HHS and Maci Schlehuber drained a pair of three-pointers for six points.
The same scenario extended into the third quarter as the Trojans rolled with a 16-2 advantage and 12 more Goodland turnovers.
With the score 46-11 at the final break, the entire fourth quarter was played with a continuous clock. Loewen finished with 11 points and Reimer 10 as nine Trojans contributed points in the 52-13 victory.
Hillsboro finished with 21-for-53 shooting for 40 percent accuracy, while Goodland made only four of 25 shots for 16 percent.
The win advances the No. 1 seeded Trojans into the semifinals against Wamego at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
BOYS — Hillsboro delivered a 26-4 knockout in the second quarter with one of the team?s best performances of the season. Leading 14-9 after the opening period, the Trojans used their defense to crush the Cowboys? hopes. HHS forced seven turnovers in the quarter and limited Goodland to 1-for-9 shooting while running the floor well offensively for 10-for-17 shooting. Eight Trojans contributed points as Hillsboro extended the lead at halftime to 40-13.
Goodland looked like a beaten team in the third period, barely mounting a semblance of an attack. Hillsboro led 61-23 by the end of the period, which kicked in the continuous clock for the entire fourth quarter.
Brett Weinbrenner paced Hillsboro with 12 points, all in the first half. Shaq Thiessen came off the bench to score 11 points. Six other Trojans contributed at least five points.
With the win, Hillsboro (8-3) will take on Thomas More Prep in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Friday.
