Hillsboro defeats Blue Lions, 63-52

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HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians hosted the Washington Blue Lions in a Frontier Athletic Conference match-up Monday night, Feb. 12.

The Indians defeated the Blue Lions, 63-52.

The game began with the Indians’ Mason Swayne collecting two early steals to get the night off to a flying start with easy layups on the other end. The Indians utilized their ability to get to the rim as well as collecting offensive rebounds to cling to a one-point advantage heading to the second quarter with the score 15-14.

The teams continued to trade baskets throughout the second with neither team garnering a sizable lead. The Indians continued to get to the basket at will while the Blue Lions settled for tough outside shots. Still, the Blue Lions continued to hang around trailing 28-24 entering the halftime break.

The Indians’ Ethan Watson came out of the locker room on fire from beyond the arc, converting on two early three-point attempts to stretch the Indians lead to six. However, the Blue Lions didn’t go away trailing by just five to head to the fourth with the score 47-42 in favor of the Indians.

As the fourth quarter went on, the Indians continued to stretch their lead. The size advantage of the Indians allowed them to continue to dominate the offensive glass for easy second chance points. The Blue Lions seemingly ran out of gas towards the end of the night with the Indians claiming a 63-52 victory.

Coming off a loss to McClain this past Friday, Hillsboro coach Bruce Miles was pleased with the way his team bounced back saying, “(I’m) so happy with our effort tonight. Turnovers were very few tonight. We took care of the basketball, we got it inside, and Ethan (Watson) made some big shots for us.”

Watson led the game for Hillsboro with 26 points.

Phil Mycroft scored 13 and Mason Swayne had 10.

For Washington, junior Evan Upthegrove led with 15 points. Junior Dillon Steward scored 13 and sophomore Trevor Rarick had 11 points.

The Blue Lions’ game against Unioto, scheduled for Tuesday, was cancelled.

Washington (3-15 overall, 1-9 FAC) will host Springfield Shawnee Saturday with the j-v game starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Blue Lions will play Hillsboro for a third time this season in the opening round of the Sectional tournament Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 6:15 p.m. at Southeastern High School.

The winner of that game plays the No. 1 seed Fairland Saturday at 7 p.m. for a Sectional championship and a trip to the District tournament at the Convocation Center in Athens on March 1.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

H 15 13 19 16 — 63

W 14 10 18 10 — 52

Hillsboro: Watson 7(4)-0/1-26; Mycroft 6-1/2-13; Swayne 4-2/3-10; Crawford 1(2)-8; Haines 2-4; Clark 1-2. Totals: 21(6)-3/6-63

Washington: Evan Upthegrove 4(1)-4/4-15; Dillon Steward 3(2)-1/2-13; Trevor Rarick 1(3)-0/2-11; Ross Matthews Jr. 2(1)-7; Garitt Leisure 2-4; Eli Lynch 1-2. Totals: 13(7)-5/8-52.

By Spencer Michael

For the Times Gazette

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