Ava Hildebrand (13) of Hillsboro looks to score as Addison Smith (45) of Festus defends at Festus High School in Festus on ...

Defense was the word of the day for Hawks, who held Festus scoreless for a stretch of 7 minutes 57 seconds in the first half ...

rushed his recovery and played AAU basketball during the summer. As a result, he had to sit for three months before the high school season began, but was ready for Hillsboro's season opener.