Southwestern comes up short despite Ian Brantley's strong performance

By Team Reports Feb 24, 2024, 8:33am

Recap: Southwestern Piasa Birds vs. Hillsboro Hiltoppers

The Southwestern Piasa Birds were the 54-50 winner over the Hillsboro Hiltoppers when they last played one another back in February of 2023, but their luck changed this time around. Southwestern fell to Hillsboro 49-43.

Despite the loss, Southwestern still got an impressive performance from Ian Brantley, who scored 18 points along with eight rebounds and two steals. That was a full 41.9% of Southwestern's points, marking the seventh time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Rocky Darr, who scored ten points.

It was another big night for Nathan Matoush, who scored 22 points for Hillsboro. Matoush hasn't dropped below 18 points for four straight games. Another player making a difference was Jace Stewart, who scored 11 points along with two steals.

Southwestern has traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four contests, which put a noticeable dent in their 19-11 record this season. As for Hillsboro, their victory bumped their record up to 11-19.

Southwestern will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Litchfield at 7:00 p.m. Southwestern is coming into the contest with five straight defeats at home, meaning Litchfield will have to defend against a squad hungry for a victory. As for Hillsboro, they will head out on the road to face off against Greenville at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Greenville is coming into the contest with six straight wins at home, so Hillsboro will have to stop a team with plenty of momentum.

Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps