WONEWOC — Hillsboro’s back and forth Scenic Bluffs Conference game at Wonewoc–Center game came down to the final nine seconds.
Junior Morgan Huntley converted a three-point with seven seconds left and the Tigers survived a last-second miss to escape with a 37–36 conference road win.
After a Hillsboro timeout with the Tigers trailing 36–34, junior Brittany Borchardt cut to the hoop on an inbound play and was fouled attempting the layup.
Borchardt–normally an excellent free throw shooter–missed both, but Huntley grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback.
Huntley made the free throw to give the Tigers a one-point lead with seven seconds left.
The Wolves (7–14, 4–10) raced the ball up court and had time for a final shot, but Emily Tracy’s potential game-winning three went of the back rim.
“Getting a win on the road is tough in this conference. Wonewoc is playing really well right now, so I knew it would be a tough game to win,” said Hillsboro head coach Scott Egan. “I thought our girls did a great job of continuing to battle throughout the game even when things didn’t seem to be going our way.
“Morgan Huntley specifically was having a rough night, but she never hung her head and was able to come up with one of the bigger baskets in our season. It was our first win where we were trailing in the final minutes of a game, and I think it showed our progress this year of being able to finish games now. Earlier in the season that would’ve probably been a loss, because we just weren’t mentally tough enough to finish games. Now that has changed and are girls are able to focus and finish games that are close in the end.”
Hillsboro led 11–6 at the end of the first quarter, but that was the largest lead by either team in the game.
Junior guard Mackenzie Sullivan finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
Classmate Destiny Shore had a near double–double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Huntley finished with nine points and seven boards.
Hillsboro 41, Royall 34
Friday night, the Tigers closed out the regular season with a 41–34 victory over Royall.
Shore got hot in the second half to lead a 12–4 Hillsboro run that gave the Tigers the lead.
Shore made three 3-pointers in the win and finished with a team-high 17 points, four steals and two rebounds.
Sullivan added nine points and seven rebounds. Borchardt scored eight points. Freshman Sydney Johnson returned to the lineup after missing more than two weeks with a sprained ankle and had three points and five rebounds.
Hillsboro finished the regular season 14–8 overall and 8–6 in the Scenic Bluffs.
The Tigers opened the WIAA Division 5 regional playoffs Tuesday at home against seventh seed Kickapoo (3–19).
With a win Hillsboro could meet Royall (7–14) again in Friday’s regional semifinals.
Royall hosted New Lisbon (8–13) in Tuesday’s opening round.
Cashton (16–6) earned the top seed in the region and would host the regional final on Saturday if it wins it first two games.
