HHS boys come up short during three-game week

Hillsboro?s 59-52 loss to Sterling Friday left the Trojans as beat up physically as they may have been psychologically after losing three games in four days to teams they had the potential to beat.

?I thought we played really hard in a really physical game,? coach Darrel Knoll said of the Sterling lost. ?We competed hard right down the stretch, but we didn?t make baskets, and they hit a couple of threes right at the end that kind of widened the gap.?

The game started physically and bordered on brutal as it evolved. Both teams were shooting bonus free throws within the first minute of the second quarter.

The first quarter ended with Sterling leading 16-14, but by the end of the half, Hillsboro had muscled into a 28-27 advantage.

HHS scored the first basket of the third quarter, but a 7-0 Sterling run put the Black Bears back on top, 34-30. Then, consecutive baskets by Ben Bebermeyer, Nathan Vogel and Bebermeyer vaulted the Trojans back in front, 36-34. But a 7-0 run carried the home team to a 41-38 advantage by the end of the quarter.

Sterling led the rest of the way. After Bebermeyer, the team?s top scorer with 14 points, fouled out with 3:11 to play, the Trojans got a couple of 3-point baskets from the bench via Luke Moore and Daniel Dick to close the final margin to seven points.

The loss kept HHS winless in the league at 0-6 and left the Trojans 2-13 for the season. The win was Sterling?s first in league play as the Black Bear?s season improved to 8-7.

Hoisington?Hillsboro got off to a poor shooting start, then scrapped its way into contention before a late implosion enabled Hoisington to post a 53-43 win.

An 0-for-8 shooting drought put the Trojans in a 10-3 hole after one quarter. But Hillsboro picked up its game in the second period and got as close as 16-14 before Hoisington pushed the lead back to 20-14 at intermission.

The Trojans finally caught the Cardinals at 22-22 when Ethan Frantz completed a traditional three-point play with 5:21 left in the third period, then caught them again at 24-24 when Frantz added another bucket with 3:45 left.

But then Hoisington delivered a haymaker: two 3-point baskets by Derrick Kaiser and a traditional three-point play by Jeremy Smith over a span of 36 seconds.

Suddenly, after a hard scrap to pull even, the Trojans trailed 33-24 with 2:41 left in the period. The score at the final break was 36-29.

Final demise came late in the game. Ben Bebermeyer had made the first of two free throws, giving Hillsboro a chance to close the gap to four points with 3:44 to go. But he missed the second charity and Brady Demel responded moments later for Hoisington with a 3-pointer.

Three Trojan turnovers and two missed shots later, Hoising?ton had all but guaranteed victory with a 51-38 lead and less than 1:30 to play.

After taking the collar in the first quarter, the Trojans shot nearly 54 percent the rest of the game. But 20 turnovers?versus 10 for Hoisington?proved to be their undoing.

Bebermeyer contributed on both ends of that spectrum, leading Hillsboro with 13 points but also with seven turnovers. Jesse Allen chipped in 10 points for the Trojans.

?We?ve just got to start finding some confidence in our shot,? coach Darrel Knoll said. ?I really think that causes us to press a little more, and as the game goes on, it wears on our mentality. We forced a few turnovers on ourselves by trying to do too much with too little.?

Kaiser finished with 21 points to pace Hoisington (2-3, 8-6).

Lyons?After showing progress during the Trojan Classic, Hillsboro took a step backward against Lyons in a 53-35 loss Tuesday.

Hillsboro led for much of the opening quarter before slipping behind 10-9 when Colten Deutsch made one of three free-throws with 0.5 seconds left after he drew a silly foul while trying to launch a desperate 3-pointer.

The Trojans? last lead was 15-14 when Nathan Vogel scored with 6:07 left in the half. But after a technical was called on Ethan Frantz for a physical foul following a rebound, Lyons launched an 11-0 run that led to a 26-15 lead with just over two minutes until intermission.

Hillsboro rallied with a 6-2 finish to trail 28-21 at halftime.

Coach Darrel Knoll said: ?I told (the team) the entire halftime, ?We?re only down seven; we can come back and win. (Lyons) had their run, we just need to regroup and play ball.?

Instead of a surge, the bottom dropped out for Hillsboro in the second half with 5-for-28 shooting. By the end of the period Lyons led, 39-27.

Hillsboro finished the game with 3-for-16 shooting in the final period as Lyons pushed the lead to 18 points at the end.

No one broke double figures for Hillsboro, leaving Frantz to claim high-point honors with his seven. Besides poor shooting from the field, the Trojans made only 50 percent (8-16) of their free throws.

?It comes down to putting the ball in the basket,? Knoll said. ?We?re missing layups, wide-open threes, wide open twos?we?re missing everything. And if we don?t get a put-back rebound, it?s pretty tough to score.?

Garrett Johnson led Lyons with 13 points and Keith Tucker added 11 as the Lions improved to 4-10 overall and 1-4 in the league. Hillsboro dropped to 0-4 and 2-11.

Coming?The road won?t get easier for the Trojans this week. Hillsboro was scheduled to play at Haven (9-6, 4-2) Tuesday, then will play Nickerson (10-5, 3-3) at home Friday. In their matchup in December, Nicker?son prevailed 57-38.

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