By Kyle Herschelman /

Journal-News

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, the Bulldogs suffered a loss to the Hiltoppers, making it three straight south central conference losses since starting the season 2-1 in conference play.

The Toppers 4-2 conference record and experience was on display after Hillsboro jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first

Hiltoppers defeated Staunton 42-36 for their fourth SCC victory in six attempts. Of those four wins, three of them have come against teams with more overall victories than Hillsboro, who have ten wins now, including the Bulldogs, who were 14-11 entering the game.

While the Toppers are currently 4-2 and tied for second in the conference, A factor in that slide has been the loss of Braden Buffington, the Bulldogs' 6'2" forward, who scored his 1,000th point earlier this year against Jerseyville and was averaging 17 points and eight rebounds per game before a broken nose in practice ended his season.

Without their leading scorer, Staunton has had to rely on some youngsters to step up, including five freshmen who are listed on the varsity roster, although one, Jeremiah Graham, was also sidelined with an injury

Two of those freshmen started for Coach Ty Laux on Tuesday, his son Isiah and Luke Moore, son of former Staunton boys basketball coach Steve Moore. The pair helped the Bulldogs take a 13-9 first half lead as Laux hit two threes and Moore added a third.

The scoring surge by the young guards came after Hillsboro jumped out to a 6-0 lead, with Adrian Harston scoring the first four points, followed by a two from Jackson Tuetken with 4:30 left in the first quarter.

Staunton went on a 10-0 run after that, with Moore dropping in five, followed by a two from Lucas Dillon, the third freshman to see playing time for the Bulldogs, and the first of Laux's three.

Jase Stewart stopped the run with Hillsboro's first basket in three and a half minutes and Nathan Matoush added a free throw with 9.2 seconds to play to cut the Staunton lead to one.

That margin was brief, though, as Laux hit a three at the buzzer to give Staunton a 13-9 lead after eight minutes.

Any potential momentum from Laux's second trey at the end of the first never materialized in the second as Hillsboro went on an 8-0 run that lasted the first five minutes of the quarter. Matoush was held to one point in the first quarter, but made up for lost time as he hit a two 40 seconds into the second, then drilled a pair of threes to account for all eight of the Toppers' points.

Staunton got their first field goal at the 2:51 mark on a three by Aaron Bodner, who added a free throw a minute later helped to jumpstart the Bulldogs to make it 17-17. All five of Staunton's points came in a two minute span, with Dillon contributing a free throw with 61 seconds to play to give his team an 18-17 advantage.

It looked like that lead would last going into the half, but the bank was open late on Tuesday as Matoush touched a three off the glass at the buzzer to give Hillsboro a 20-18 lead at halftime.

After scoring all 11 points in the second, Matoush scored again to start the third, with a two-pointer just 28 seconds in. Staunton answered with a three by Laux, but Jace Stewart and Jackson Tuetken answered quickly with two points each to give Hillsboro their biggest lead since the 6-0 start at 26-21.

The Bulldogs tied the score on a three by Laux and two free throws from Bodner, but a free throw and a basket by Jace Stewart in the final minute gave Hillsboro a 9-8 edge in the quarter and a 29-26 lead overall.

After four lead changes and two ties in the first three quarters, the back-and-forth between the two clubs continued in the fourth. Staunton regained the lead in the first 90 seconds with a two from Ethan Sharp and a three by Luke Moore, but a basket by Mitchell Lowe tied the game at 31 before a three by Caleb Greenwood and a two by Nathan Matoush broke the tie and gave Hillsboro a 36-31 lead midway through the quarter.

Moore hit another three to trim the lead to one, but Matoush scored again at the two minute mark to make it 38-34 with time winding down. Staunton had a chance to cut the lead to two with 1:19 on the clock, but missed two free throws and Greenwood made them pay on the other end with his second basket of the quarter.

Down six, the Bulldogs still had a shot. After a turnover gave Hillsboro the ball back with 35 seconds to go, Luke Moore stole the inbounds pass and put up a three that would have chopped the lead in half. Instead, it hit the rim and found its way to Jace Stewart, who hit two free throws with 12.2 seconds remaining to make it 42-34.

Ethan Sharp scored on the other end to make it a six-point game once again, but with less than five seconds on the clock, Hillsboro didn't need to bring the ball in and time ran out to end the game.

The 36 points scored by Staunton were the Bulldogs third fewest of the season as they have been held under 40 just five times this year.

On offense, Nathan Matoush scored 11 of his game-high 18 points in the second quarter, when Hillsboro cancelled out the Bulldogs' four-point advantage from the first.

Jace Stewart added nine points, with seven in the second half, followed by Caleb Greenwood with five, Jackson Tuetken and Adrian Harston with four and Mitchell Lowe with two.

Isiah Laux and Luke Moore led Staunton with 12 and 11, but only three other Bulldogs scored in the game, combining for 13 points.

Feb. 6 at Hillsboro

Staunton 13 5 8 10 36

Hillsboro 9 11 9 13 42

Staunton (36) - Isiah Laux 12, Luke Moore 11, Aaron Bodner 6, Ethan Sharp 4, Lucas Dillon 3. Totals: 11 6-15 36.

Hillsboro (42) - Nathan Matoush 18, Jace Stewart 9, Caleb Greenwood 5, Jackson Tuetken 4, Adrian Harston 4, Mitchell Lowe 2. Totals: 17 4-8 42.

Three-point field goals: Staunton 8 (Laux 4, Moore 3, Bodner 1); Hillsboro 4 (Matoush 3, Greenwood 1).

Records: Hillsboro (10-18, 4-2), Staunton (14-12, 2-4).