HHS?girls defeat talented Pratt

Danae Bina shoots for two of her 19 points during the Trojans? Central Kansas League opener at Pratt. The Trojans prevailed, 46-38, against a talented and aggressive Greenback team.The Hillsboro girls preserved their perfect season, and took a key step toward a Central Kansas League title by beating a talented Pratt team Friday on the road, 46-38.

?Road wins are challenging because it?s not your normal environment,? coach Nathan Hiebert said. ?At times it wasn?t pretty, but we found a way to win.

?A lot of girls did some good things for us. I?m proud we got good effort?not just in scoring, but in ways that don?t always show up in the scorebook.?

With the win, Hillsboro improved to 8-0 and 1-0 in the league while Pratt dropped to 4-2 and 0-1.

The two teams were evenly matched in athleticism, size and an aggressive approach to defense.

The Trojans fell behind early against the Green?backs, trailing 6-2 and then 11-4 with a minute left in the first period. But in the final 33 seconds, Alex Ratzlaff scored a two-point basket, Danae Bina completed a traditional three-point play, and Addie Lackey nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to vault HHS into the lead, 12-11.

?The offense we started in wasn?t working very well, so we changed it to get more movement,? Hiebert said. ?I thought that was a huge, huge difference. Our girls did a great job of passing the ball and getting some looks.?

Points were hard to come by early in the second period. Pratt regained the lead at 20-18 when all-league player Jenson Maydew scored with 2:04 left in the half.

But once again the Tro?jans rallied late. Lackey scored a two-pointer and Bina added a three to give Hillsboro a 23-20 lead at intermission.

In the third quarter, Pratt tied the game at 27 and then again at 29 before Lackey scored on a steal and Bina drove the lane for a basket to give the Trojans a slim 33-31 lead heading into the final quarter.

Maydew tied the game at 33 as the fourth quarter began, but the Trojans limited Pratt to one other field goal the rest of the way.

Hillsboro slowly built a lead down the stretch with Bina and Lackey scoring all 13 of the Trojans? points on the way to the eight-point victory.

For the game, Bina and Lackey each finished with 19 points and Ratzlaff added eight to round out Hills?boro?s scoring.

The Trojans were out-rebounded, 33-22, but forced 18 Pratt turnovers while committing only 10.

Maydew led Pratt with 15 points, but Hiebert praised Darcy Heinrichs? defensive effort against her.

?Jenson Maydew?s one of the best posts in the league, if not the best,? he said. ?Darcy did a great job on her.?

Smoky Valley?Like throwing a thunderous haymaker at the opening bell, Hillsboro buried 10 of its first 11 shots of the game?including five three-pointers?to knock the winless Vikings (0-6) out of contention on the way to a 53-22 rout Tues?day at Lindsborg.

By the time Addie Lackey capped the hot streak with her second three-pointer of the game, the Trojans led 25-5 with 6:45 left in the second quarter.

?I was really proud,? coach Nathan Hiebert said about the start. ?The shots were within our offense, they had their feet set, and they weren?t hesitant to shoot. That?s what we talk about.

?A lot of those (threes) were inside-out, so our bodies were squared up. And we saw the repercussions of that.?

Hillsboro?s hot hand cooled the rest of the quarter, but the Trojans still coasted to a 35-9 lead at intermission. Lackey had 12 points by the break and Danae Bina 11.

Hillsboro?s cool-down continued into the first half of the third quarter?but without consequences as the Trojans still owned a 26-point lead at the 4:09 mark.

Then, kicking up the defensive pressure again, the Trojans ignited a 10-0 run over a 2:40 span to build their largest lead of the night at 49-13 with 1:35 left in the quarter.

?It was our defensive pressure that we wanted to focus on,? Hiebert said. ?I felt like that?s where we kind of lacked our intensity and focus. We kind of went through the motions, defensively.?

With a running clock the entire fourth quarter, Hie?bert cleared his bench with 4:43 left in the game.

Lackey finished as the game?s top scorer with 20 points. Bina was close behind with 16.

As a team, the Trojans shot just under 44 percent from the field while forcing 20 Viking turnovers and 29 percent shooting.

?I thought we did a really good job defensively of getting turnovers, getting tips,? Hiebert said. ?That really helped us on the offensive end as well.?

Coming?Hillsboro was scheduled to face its toughest test so far this season with a home game Tuesday against Sterling (8-0), ranked No. 3 in Class 2A.

The Trojans will travel to Nickerson (2-4) Friday in their final game before the Trojan Classic.

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