Hillsboro?s Nathan Vogel hit the first basket of the second half to cut the margin to eight points. But Hesston then hit its next five shots, including two 3-pointers, to inflate the cushion 40-22. The margin was still 18 at the end of three quarters, 45-27.
Hesston?s lead grew as large as 59-31 with 4:42 to go before David Loewen contributed a traditional 3-point play and Clay Shewey followed with a basket from behind the arc to bring the lead back to 22 at 59-37, but the outcome was already determined.
Hesston made 13 of 18 shots in the second half, including four 3-pointers.
For the game, the Swathers made 23 of 40 (58 percent) field-goal attempts, including nine 3-pointers.
?They did hit some wide-open shots, but some of those were contested shots,? Knoll said. ?It?s pretty tough when a team is shooting the three that well to guard inside-out.?
Meanwhile, Hillsboro managed only 36 percent shooting (16-44) for the game with five 3-pointers.
Shewey led Hillsboro with 15 points while the Swathers held Loewen to a season-low four points as the Trojans fell to 4-3 for the season and 1-1 in league play. Hesston is 6-0 and 2-0.
?We?re going to have to learn that if we?re going to be a one-pass, two-pass, jump-shot team, we?re not going to beat teams like (Hesston) because they defend well and rebound well,? Knoll said. ?When we competed well tonight is when we got to the rim.?
Hoisington?Sophomore Ben Bebermeyer came off the bench and scored 18 points in the first half?and a team-high 22 for the game?to spark the Hillsboro boys to a 70-36 win at Hoisington Tuesday night (Jan. 6).
Hillsboro led only 4-0 through the first three minutes, despite forcing four consecutive Hoisington turnovers to start the contest. Bebermeyer then entered the game and drained the first of five 3-pointer at the 4:56 mark.
He added two more 3-pointers and a 2-pointer before the quarter was over, accounting for half of the scoring in the Trojans? 22-5 lead at the first break.
It was apparent by that point that Hillsboro had a clear edge over a younger and smaller Cardinal team.
After a slow start, Clay Shewey warmed up in the second period with seven points and Bebermeyer added two more threes?plus a free throw when he was fouled draining the second one for his 18 first-half points?as Hillsboro inflated the lead to 45-16 by intermission.
Hillsboro led 60-25 after three quarters and played the final period with a continuous clock.
Complementing Beber?meyer?s 22 points for the game were David Loewen, who dominated the paint and finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the night, and Daniel Jost, who scored 12 points.
?Ben can really shoot it sometimes, and this was one of those nights,?coach Darrel Knoll said. ?That really got us going. The thing is, I thought his shots were really good shots. He spotted up, he was ready to catch and shoot.?
Beyond Bebermeyer, Knoll said the key for Hillsboro was its defense.
?We?ve been working hard on being more active away from the ball,? he said. ?We?ve still got a long way to go, but we did a much better job.
?I was really pleased with our consistency tonight,? he added. ?I was happy with the way we were able to sub down the stretch and keep everybody playing?and keep it a respectable game at the same time.
Coming?Hillsboro, scheduled to play at Smoky Valley (1-5, 0-2) on Tuesday, will play host to Halstead (2-5, 0-2) on Friday.
Hillsboro will host the 15th annual Trojan Classic the following week, and will open play as the fifth seed at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday against fourth-seeded Thomas More Prep.
