WONEWOC–The Hillsboro girls basketball team is 7–1 after an up down week of play.
Last Tuesday the Lady Tigers held host Wonewoc–Center to just six first-half points in an easy 51–19 Scenic Bluffs Conference victory over the winless Wolves (0–5, 0–1).
Three nights later, Hillsboro suffered its first loss of the season, 59–52 against visiting Brookwood (5–1, 3–0).
Monday night, the Tigers bounced back with a 39–32 non-conference victory over Ithaca (4–6).
Senior guard Destiny Shore scored a game-high 13 points and sophomore Sydney Johnson added 11 points, six steals, five rebounds and five assists in Tuesday’s win over Wonewoc–Center.
Hillsboro raced out to a 27–6 halftime lead and was never threatened.
The Tigers took an early lead in Friday’s first-place showdown with Brookwood, but struggle offensively.
The Falcons were able to take advantage and build a six-point halftime lead at 23–17.
They extended the lead to 14 midway through the second half, but Hillsboro was able to back within five, but Brookwood senior Briana Nelson hit back-to-back three-pointers with five minutes left to push the lead back to 11.
Nelson made 6 of 9 free throws down the stretch to close out the win and finished with a game-high 20 points.
Sophomore Allyson Nelson added 19 points for the winners.
“I thought our girls played extremely hard in the game and we did most of the things we wanted to do,” said Hillsboro head coach Scott Egan. “The shots just weren’t falling for us which was mostly caused by Brookwood’s ability to keep us out of the paint. I still thought our girls played a heck of a game, and I know the girls are looking forward to getting another shot at them.”
Senior Morgan Huntley paced Hillsboro with 16 points and five rebounds.
Senior guard Mackenzie Sullivan added 12 points, and six rebounds.
“All the girls on Brookwood know their roles,” added Egan. “Obviously the two Nelson girls are great players, but the other girls around them do a lot of the little things you need to have on a good team. They hit open shots, make strong cuts the basket, play great defense, and crash the boards hard. I know the two Nelson girls will get a lot of credit for the win, and rightfully so, but I thought their greatness really showed through role players and them having an understanding about what their jobs are on the court.”
Hillsboro committed 36 turnovers in Monday’s victory and was outscored 20–11 in the second half, but found a way to gut out a victory on an off night.
“We struggled on offense the whole night, combining for 36 turnovers in the game,” said Egan. “However, our defense was strong most of the night, and Ithaca struggled offensively as well.”
Hillsboro’s press flustered Ithaca in the first half and the Tigers closed the half on a 16–0 to take a 28–12 lead into halftime.
The lead would eventually reach 21 points in the second half before Ithaca made a late run to pull within seven points.
No Tiger scored in double figures, but seven players scored at least four points in the win.
Huntley led the team with eight points. Johnson added seven.
The Tigers traveled to Riverdale (4–2) for a non-conference game on Tuesday. Hillsboro will return to action Tuesday at Seneca (5–2).
