HHS girls knock off Sterling

Addie Lackey shoots over a pair of Lyons defenders during Friday?s game. Despite 23 points from the senior, the Trojans came up short, 59-47.How quickly a team?s fortunes can change.

Barely three days after an upset loss to Lyons gave the Hillsboro girls their third straight loss, the Trojans bucked up and knocked off the Sterling, the No. 2 in Class 2A, 62-57.

The Black Bears came into Monday?s makeup game with a 13-1 record, including a 58-50 win over Hillsboro on the Trojans? home court not even three weeks earlier.

On this night, Hillsboro returned the favor.

Sterling started strong, taking a 13-8 lead after one quarter. Both teams turned on the offense in the second quarter with 18 points a piece.

With Sterling leading 31-26 at the break, the Trojans turned on the gas in the third quarter and outscored the Black Bears 19-8 for a 46-39 lead heading into the final period.

Danae Bina led the Tro?jan charge with 24 points. Addie Lackey added 16 as the Trojans improved to 3-1 in the league and 11-4 overall.

Lyons?Blame it on going almost two weeks without a game, or an off-night performance, or simply an improved opponent, but the Hills?boro girls? string of 17 consecutives victories over Lyons ended Friday when the Trojans were soundly defeated, 59-47, in Brown Gymnasium.

Hillsboro last lost to Lyons in early January 2006. This season, the Trojans won by 20 points in the season opener, then needed an overtime to escape with a five-point victory at Lyons in late December.

This game was close for three quarters, but the bottom dropped out for Hills?boro in the final one. Trail?ing 43-40 at the start, the Trojans made only one of eight shots and turned the ball over eight times as the Lions pulled away with a 16-7 finish.

?We weren?t disciplined locking people down and gave them a lot of easy opportunities,? coach Nathan Hiebert said of his team?s defense. ?They had the patience to get the shots that they wanted.?

The two teams played to a near standoff through the first three quarters. Lyons led 13-12 after one quarter and 30-29 at the half. Hillsboro appeared to be back on track coming out of halftime, launching a 7-2 burst for a 36-32 lead at the 6:13 mark.

But the uneven play that characterized much of the first half resurfaced. Five consecutive missed shots and three turnovers enabled Lyons to regain the lead when standout guard Brenna McClure nailed a three-pointer for a 39-36 advantage with 2:52 left in the quarter.

Hiebert credited Lyons for a successful game plan.

?Lyons does a great job of encouraging teams to speed up and then shoot quickly?we did exactly what they wanted,? he said. ?If you look at the scouting report, what those girls do is exactly what they did.

?If you look at our scouting report, I don?t know. We had some possessions where we looked really good and some possessions where we looked really bad.?

Hiebert said the Trojans? best moments came when they ran their offense.

?We had some really good possessions where people had their feet set,? he said. ?When that happens we really shoot a higher percentage.?

Addie Lackey led Hills?boro with 23 points and Alex Ratzlaff added 10, but McClure stole the spotlight with 25 points for Lyons (7-7).

With three straight losses, the Trojans are looking for a turnaround.

?We?ve got to find a way to come together as a team,? Hiebert said. ?A lot of times it looks like we?re playing separately. A lot of people are doing things on their own.

?When we play together ?when we have patience and run the offense?we get everybody with good (scoring) opportunities. But when we don?t, all of a sudden we resort to taking tough shots. Taking tough shots doesn?t help us.?

Coming?Coming off the makeup game at Sterling Monday, the Trojans were scheduled to host Smoky Valley (3-10) Tuesday and then Hesston (13-1) Friday.

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