Trojans edge Winfield, place third at Cheney

Let?s call it good defense?the one end of the court where the Hillsboro girls have proven themselves consistently this season. The offensive end continues to be a challenge, but the Trojans managed enough points to claim a 29-26 win Saturday against Winfield to take third place at the Cardinal Classic in Cheney.

Hillsboro trailed 8-5 after the first quarter and then 14-11 at halftime. After three quarters, the score was 18-17, with HHS inching to within one point.

The Trojans took their first lead since early in the game when Kassidi Luthi scored in the paint 34 seconds into the final period. She added a free throw on Hillsboro?s next trip up the court for a 20-18 lead.

But Winfield drained two 3-pointers in less than 1:30 to go back up by four points, 24-20.

Hillsboro didn?t lead again until Candace Weinbrenner hit a 17-footer with 51.5 seconds left in the game to put HHS ahead 27-26. Tiffany Rooker added a free throw 17 seconds later, and then one more with 3.4 seconds left to seal the victory.

Coach Nathan Hiebert said he liked the way his team competed down the stretch, forcing turnovers on three consecu?tive Winfield possessions in the final 1:18.

?We did nice things in this game and were fortunate to come away with the victory,? he said. ?I hope we learn from the things we did to win as well as the things that didn?t work so well for us.?

Hillsboro shot 12-for-27 (44 percent) from the floor and 5-for-11 from the free-throw line while Winfield made only 11 of 32 shots (34 percent) from the floor and two of five from the line.

Dakota Kaufman led the team with 12 points.

Early in the game, senior starter Abi Humber aggravated the knee that kept her sidelined all of last season. Her status had not been determined at press time.

Cheney?It became clear early in Friday?s 47-19 loss that the Trojans were not going to match up well against the host Cardinals, who showed a clear advantage in height, quickness and athleticism.

Hillsboro didn?t score until Abi Humber managed a bucket in the paint with 1:23 left in the opening period. By then Cheney had scored 11 points, and then added one more basket to take a 13-2 lead at the first break.

By halftime the score was 28-7, and it was 37-11 after three quarters.

No one broke double digits for HHS, but Humber led the team with seven points. As a team, Hillsboro made only seven of 29 shots (24 percent) against Cheney?s swarming defense while the home team made 18 of 43 (42 percent).

Smoky Valley?Hillsboro managed a dramatic and improbable 38-37 victory in the final seconds of the tournament opener played Tuesday in Hillsboro.

With the Trojans trailing by four points after Smoky?s Danielle DuMars sank a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds left on the clock, Hillsboro?s Tiffany Rooker nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 5 seconds left.

HHS immediately called a timeout to set up the defense for the inbounds play underneath the Trojan bucket. On the throw in, Abi Humber snatched the pass about five feet from the basket and laid it in to pull out the victory as the buzzer sounded.

?During the timeout we said full denial (on the inbounds pass)?we didn?t want them to catch the ball,? coach Nathan Hiebert said. ?I had seen them screen across (in the lane) one other time against the press break, and I figured that?s what was coming. We were fortunate that they threw the ball pretty much right to Abi, and she made a nice shot.?

It appeared the Trojans would have their way with the Vikings, taking a 13-6 lead after one quarter, and looking strong on both ends of the court. HHS built its lead to 21-11 with 2:55 left in the half before Smoky?s Kimi Lindshield scored back-to-back baskets to close the gap to 21-15 at the break.

The Vikings picked up in the third quarter where they left off and claimed its first lead at 25-23 with 4:56 to play. The quarter ended with the teams tied at 27.

With the score knotted at 29 and 4:50 to play, Smoky Valley appeared to take control with a 6-0 run, prompting a Trojan timeout with 2:16 to go. Dakota Kaufman scored seconds after play resumed and Kassidi Luthi followed with a basket off a steal with a minute to go to close the margin to 35-33 before DuMars sank her two free throws with 8.6 seconds left.

Kaufman led HHS with 10 points, but she got help from Rooker with eight points, Humber with six and Luthi and Allie Faul with five each.

As a team, HHS made a third of its shots from the floor (15-45) and five of six free throws while the Vikings made 16 of 34 (47 percent) shots from the floor and five of 10 free throws.

Coming?Hillsboro (2-2) will close out its pre-holiday schedule this week with a home game against Nickerson Tuesday and then a road game versus Sterling on Friday.

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