Hillsboro Heads to D5 State

HILLSBORO, Wis. (WKBT) — The 129 students that roam the halls as 777 School Street, may be the only ones who believed.

A new coach. Six new players up from JV. And 22 wins later, the Tigers of Hillsboro High are heading to state.

“This program had gone six times to the sectional, and four times to the sectional final,” said first year head coach Curt Hildreth. “There have been a lot of great teams here. We happened to be the one that broke through.”

The Tigers leading scorer, junior forward Max Stockwell, understands the previous close calls all too well.

“I was a manager for the last team to go to the sectional final,” said Stockwell. “It just hurt after that. I knew once I got my opportunity I could not let it slip.”

With the town behind them, Hillsboro is set to take on Green Bay NEW Lutheran Thursday in Madison.

“The whole town is behind us,” said guard Joey Helgerson. “We came after the sectional final game and we were escorted by fire trucks.”

“We all dreamed of this since second grade,” said guard Tommy Crandall. “Before the season started that was our goal to get there. It feels great to finally do it.”