The first game between McClain and Hillsboro was to have been played thirty-one days ago (and at Greenfield). However, because of postponement, the county rivals finally met at HHS Tuesday night.
It was a type of dream match-up : McClain standing at 9 -- 2 while the Indians were sporting a mark of 8 -- 2. The game was never able to live up to the hype because the Tigers' top performer, junior Bryson Badgley suffered an injury with 2:52 left in the first quarter (that caused him to miss the rest of the game).
The Tigers, almost toothless on offense without Badgley, only tallied thirteen points in the entire first half. Hillsboro, on the other hand, scored thirteen points in each of the first two frames to have a fairly comfortable lead of 26 -- 13 at the intermission. HHS was led by Ryan Scott's 10 points and tremendous defense on McClain's guards. Also, contributing 2 three point shots was Lawton Parry (coming off the bench).
The Indians, despite a slow start to the third stanza, widened their lead --- outscoring the visitors by a 13 -- 10 count in the third quarter. Hillsboro continued the recent trend of finishing games in a positive manner by "winning" the 4th quarter 15 -- 11 to make the final score read 54 -- 34.
The win was the fourth straight for the Indians and gave them an overall mark of 9 -- 2 (and 4 -- 1 in the FAC).
Scott, who had a game-high 20 points (with numerous steals and deflections on defense), was named the WSRW "player of the game." Lawton Parry, who has been of fire from deep lately, also contributed 10 points to the Hillsboro cause.
HHS will be in action again this Friday night when they host the unbeaten Jackson Ironmen. To this point of the season, this should be a game that will go a long win to who wins the FAC crown.