Red-hot Lions roar past second-ranked Hillsboro Trojans
Fatal first-half too much for Hillsboro boys to overcome in 64-51 loss to Lyons
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Playing one of the biggest games of the regular season Friday night with MCAA title implications on the line, Lyons was the last place the Trojans could afford a slow start.
After all, it was the Lions who gave Hillsboro all it wanted a year ago, both during the regular season and in the semifinals of the Lyons' sub-state with both games going down to the wire.
The bad news for the Trojans was the Lions had everybody from last year's team, including the dynamic duo of Blaine Clark and Kevin Sechrist.
But bad news was inevitable as a rugged 42-21 first half by the Lions (8-1, 3-0 MCAA) proved too steep a peak for even a team like the second-ranked Trojans (7-2, 2-1 MCAA) to climb, falling 64-51.
One of the biggest keys in stopping Lyons is slowing down Clark and Sechrist, the two biggest reasons for the thrilling games last season, not to mention taking care of the basketball.
Throw Cameron Simms in, that's more trouble yet.
All three destroyed the Trojans with the trio combining to light Hillsboro up for 50 points and the Trojans committing 17 turnovers.
The Lions got of the gate in a hurry, racing to a 21-10 lead after the first quarter with 14 of the 21 points coming from the trio of Clark, Simms, and Sechrist.
Lyons neutralized the Trojans' three biggest weapons, Lucas Hamm, Kyle Kroeker, and Wade Weibert the first half, holding Kroeker and Hamm to a combined nine points.
Leading Hillsboro in scoring two out of the last three games with 15 points, the place Weibert was the strongest was in rebounding with six, finishing with four points.
Seventeen more points from the Lyons' trio and the Trojans were facing their largest deficit at halftime this season with the Lions in front 42-21 after another 21-point second quarter.
Hillsboro's most productive points at halftime came from a pair of threes from Kroeker and six points from Adam Scheele.
By the time Kroeker and Hamm heated up the second half, the Trojans were never in a position to jeopardize the Lion lead, despite outdoing them, 29-22.
Hillsboro actually outdid Lyons in everything but scoring, free-throw shooting, and taking care of the ball, with both teams hitting an identical 40 percent from the floor and 28 percent from outside.
Kroeker ended the game with a team-high 16 points and four steals, hitting three-of-nine from downtown.
Hamm had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds with seven offensively to help beat Lyons, 29-28 on the glass.
Ironically, it was at the free-throw line where Sechrist and Clark did most of their damage with Clark getting 10 points courtesy of the line and Sechrist, eight.
Overall, the Lions hit a blistering 23-for-28, including 11-of-13 in the fourth quarter while Hillsboro only got seven cracks from the free-throw line the entire night.
Clark scored a game-high 21 points, including a trio of triples, Sechrist had 15, and Simms had 14.
The Trojans face another tough week in the Trojan Classic.
Pending a win over Hesston, a team the Trojans doused Jan. 10, 58-38, Tuesday night, Hillsboro would meet the winner of the Marion-Belleville game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
With a Swather win, Hillsboro would face the loser of the Warriors-Buffaloes game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
