In the final week of the 2021-2022 Boys Basketball regular season, the Hillsboro Varsity team played twice, going 1-1, to finish their season with a 19-7 record. The first game of the week was a win against Union, which increased the team’s win streak to five, but the second game was a loss to North County which ended that streak. While the two games won’t affect district seeding, any momentum the team may have had has been halted.
The first game took place on Tuesday, February 22nd, at Union High School. In the first quarter, the Hawks and the Wildcats battled back and forth, with each team putting up 20 points. The second quarter, however, saw Hillsboro soar, as they pulled away with 23 points to Union’s 11, giving the Hawks a 43-31 lead going into halftime.
Hillsboro opened the gap even further in the third, adding another 15 while holding Union to only five. With this one well in hand, the Hawks hit cruise control in the fourth quarter and finished the game with a 21-point lead, 74-53.
The offense for Hillsboro was quite impressive. Noah Holland had a great game as he scored 18 points, grabbed six rebounds, and added four assists. Kyle Phipps was next, as he notched 17 more. Another big scorer of the game was Luka Pool, who contributed 16 points, five assists, and three steals. Rounding out the scoring, Payton Brown also showed up strong with 10 points and an impressive 11 rebounds.
The next game of the week was against North County, but played at DeSoto, and took place on Saturday, February 26th. This one did not go quite as well for Hillsboro as North County jumped out to an early 19-11 lead after one quarter. The Hawks battled back in the second as they outscored the Raiders by one but still found themselves behind 32-25 at the half.
In the third quarter, Hillsboro outscored North County by five and cut the lead to just two, making it 45-43. The fourth quarter was a battle as each team vied for the lead, but in the end, the Raiders pulled ahead by a six-point margin to win the game 65-59.
While the Hawks didn’t win the game, they did have a few outstanding individual performances. This time, Phipps led the charge, scoring 18 points. Holland was just behind him, adding 17 more. Brown notched 11 points, but helped his team more defensively, as he pulled down an incredible 13 rebounds.
A loss is certainly not the way any team wants to close out a regular season, especially with only one day in between games, with districts beginning on Monday. However, the resilient Hillsboro team must now put that final game behind them and move forward as they are still in a great position to make a run for the District Championship.
