?They got a roll on us and we missed shots, we missed free throws?we just got rattled tonight and had a hard time recovering from that,? coach Darrel Knoll said.
The visitors scored the first eight points before Daniel Jost drove the lane for a score with 5:13 left in the first quarter. A rash of four Hillsboro turnovers led to a 6-1 Spartan run that raised the lead to 17-3 with three minutes left.
David Loewen scored twice in the paint in the final 1:37 to bring HHS to within 18-7 at the first break.
The game fell apart in the first five minutes of the second period as Hillsboro committed five more turnovers and missed all five of its shots from the floor. Collegiate led 29-7 before Clay Shewey hit a free throw to break the drought with 3:09 left.
The half ended with Collegiate leading 37-14 on the strength of a defense that forced Hillsboro into 12 turnovers and 5-of-18 shooting from the floor for the first two periods.
With Collegiate?s lineup going 10 deep, the Trojans could never gain a toehold. Eight more turnovers, combined with four baskets in only eight attempts, paved the way to a 54-23 bulge by the end of the third quarter.
With a 31-point margin, the two teams played the final quarter with a continuous clock. Ironically, the Trojans pieced together a surge during the abbreviated quarter, narrowing the final margin to 23 points on the strength of 10 points by Shewey, who finished with a game-high 14.
As a team the Trojans shot 37 percent (12-32) from the floor and made 11 of 15 free throws. They turned the ball over 19 times.
Leading Collegiate?s balanced attack were Blake Jablonski with 13, Gideon Massey with 12 and Andrew Hourani with 11. The Spartans made 24 of 52 shots from the floor (46 percent) and nine of 10 free throws.
Knoll said he knew the game would challenge his troops.
?I was a little concerned coming into this game because we are still developing our depth,? he said. ?We don?t practice against any kind of intensity like that.
?We?ve just got a lot of things to learn from it,? he added. ?We?ll pick ourselves up and we?ll be better the next time we play them.?
Coming?Hillsboro will compete in the Cheney Cardinal Classic this week. The Trojans were to open pool play Tuesday at home against Smoky Valley. They will will play at Cheney against the host team on Friday night.
Saturday?s concluding game will be determined by the outcome of pool play. Competing in the other pool are Winfield, Chapparal and Clearwater.
Hillsboro will close out its pre-holiday schedule with a game at Sterling.
