The Hillsboro Indians, seeking a tenth straight win, travelled to Mt. Orab to face the 9 -- 3 Broncos of Western Brown in a Saturday matinee. This match-up could be best described as a warm-up for the upcoming tournament season --- two good teams going out of conference looking for an unquestionable challenge.
The Indians and Broncos, coming off Friday night victories, still brought a high level of energy/intensity to the contest. HHS, similar to the game against Miami Trace the night before, was torrid in the first period. In fact, it may have been the best eight minutes of basketball the Indians have played to date. Hillsboro, with accurate shooting and tough defense, raced to a 22 -- 10 lead at the first stop. They followed that display with more of the same in frame number two by outscoring WB by a count of 16 -- 8 (taking a 38 -- 18 advantage into halftime). However, Western Brown, who overcame a huge halftime deficit the previous night against a fine Batavia team to claim a win, nearly did the same against the stunned Indians. The third quarter blitz engineered by the Broncos' effort at the defensive end caused a shift in momentum that was evident to everyone in attendance
The Broncos were able to blast HHS 23 -- 7 in the crucial third quarter and cut the lead to 45 -- 41. Then, in the decisive final eight minutes, the game was knotted at 45 apiece with 2 :30 left in regulation. At that stage of the game and beyond, the Indians stepped to the free throw line and hit a perfect six for six to nip WBHS by the final score of 53 -- 50. Coach Miles Burton, incredibly proud of his team, said " we've grown as a team throughout this season (including tonight) and we will move ahead from this point." He also pointed out that "the ten game win streak is great and we have a chance to claim the conference title." To celebrate/honor this outstanding win, the entire team was chosen as the WSRW "player(s) of the game." Hillsboro will return to FAC play Tuesday night when they (again) will play at Miami Trace. Finally, the Indians overall record moved to a sparkling 14 -- 2!