Soccer ball on grass

HILLSBORO — What started off so promising for Summit went south in a hurry in the third quarter.

The Storm committed a pile of turnovers in the face of Hillsboro’s pressure defense, and the Spartans hit a flurry of 3-pointers in the third period to turn the tide en route to a 58-43 win over Summit in a Class 5A girls basketball play-in game Tuesday night.

While the loss was not a big surprise — the host Spartans came into the game with a 12-12 record compared with Summit’s 9-13, and both teams had finished third in their respective leagues — it was a disappointment for the Storm. Especially after they built a 26-18 halftime lead, a margin that grew to 13 points in the early moments of the third period.

“I felt like we were the aggressors in the first half,” said Lynnette Landis, Summit’s first-year coach. “They just made some nice halftime adjustments — and started draining 3s.”

The Spartans made six 3-point baskets in the game, five of them in the third quarter, when they outscored the Storm 26-6 to take a 44-32 lead into the fourth.

Hillsboro’s defensive heat was especially effective in the pivotal third period.

“We haven’t seen full-court pressure like that all season,” said Landis. The Storm committed 27 turnovers for the night, which Landis said was “triple, quadruple what we normally have in a game.”

Summit was led by Olivia Loberg with a game-high 15 points. Hailee Neibauer had 11 points and six rebounds, and Spencer Hurley added six points and seven rebounds.

Katherine Salas scored 14 points to lead Hillsboro (13-12), which will represent the Northwest Oregon Conference on Friday in the first round of the 5A state playoffs.

Summit (9-14) had won four of its last six regular-season games and took third place in the Intermountain Conference.

“This was a tough loss,” Landis conceded. “But the future looks bright for us.”