(Park Hills, MO) The fourth seeded Hillsboro Hawks defeated the five seed Potosi Trojans in a tight quarterfinals bout in the 68th Bob Sechrest Jr. Central Christmas Tournament. Both teams went 26 for 47 from the field for a 55% field goal percentage.
Hillsboro was the better team early in the game, outscoring Potosi 18-11 in the first quarter. The Hawks scored 20 in the second quarter to the Trojans’ 13 to widen the deficit even more. Potosi came out hot in the second half and went on a run early in the third quarter. They outscored Hillsboro 16-13 in the quarter to close the deficit by three. They continued their run in the final quarter where they came within five points of Hillsboro, but ultimately they couldn’t close the gap.
Hillsboro’s Greg Robinson put up 16 points – all coming from the field – and collected 11 rebounds, earning a double-double. He was helped by Dominic Sutton (12p), Nick Marchetti (11p), and Payton Brown (10p). Carter Whitley put the Trojans team on his back to try and grind to the victory, scoring 27.
Hillsboro will move on to play the Central Rebels in the semifinals on Friday, Dec. 29 at 6pm and Potosi will play the Steelville Cardinals in the fifth place bracket on Friday at 3pm.