The Burros should have had their brooms with ‘em on Saturday.

For the second time this year, the Burros swept the MayPort-CG Patriots in basketball.

Hillsboro, which beat the Patriots twice before Christmas, repeated the assignment Saturday at Mayville.

The Burros girls won 61-54 behind Ashley Doeden’s 24 points and the boys were victorious on a last second shot by Jake Olsen. 

The victories kept the Hillsboro girls in the chase for the District 3 championship and the boys still in the mix in their fight for the district’s top tier of teams.

MPCG, meanwhile, remains mired in the bottom of the standings in both races.

Ashley Doeden’s effort Saturday at the MPCG gymnasium was her best of the year, according to coach Kyle Morehart.

“She came ready to play. Ashley was tough at both ends of the court. She was defending, rebounding and scoring.”

Maggie Evenson and Brittany Wilson each had 10 points in the big win for the Burros.

It was yet another low-scoring boys game, won this time by Hillsboro, 39-36.

Much like the first game, which Hillsboro won 33-31, this game started slow and progressed slower.

Neither team shot particularly well.

With the score tied and the clock winding down, Jamie Horne drove the lane and was stopped. He turned and passed the ball back to Brian Smelden on the perimeter. Jake Olsen, meanwhile, was circling the players on the floor.

Guarded, Smelden passed the ball to Olsen.

From just outside the 3-point line, Olsen let fly his patented jump shot.

With .6 second left, the ball circled the rim and settled into the net, giving the Burros the exciting 3-point win over their arch rivals.

Hillsboro set up the winning play in a timeout with 12 seconds left to play.

“We knew they would guard Jake, which they did,” said Burro coach Elliot Rotvold.

When Smelden hit the circling Olsen with a pass the veteran Burro was “wide open,” said Rotvold.

“He nailed the shot at the buzzer.”

The game was a dogfight from the start. “the game was very physical,” said Rotvold, “which helped them out.”

The Burros, meanwhile, were having trouble with Patriot coach Dave Nelson’s zone defense.

“We had a tough time getting good shots,” noted the Burro coach. “But we were able to play well enough on the defensive end to stay in the game.”

The Burros were more aggressive in the second half, forcing the Patriots into 14 turnovers, 21 for the game.

“That was a key,” suggested Rotvold. “We got our last possession off a turnover and set up a play with 12 seconds left.”

The MPCG gym is “always a tough place to play,” offered Hillsboro’s coach.

“We felt good about the win.”

Sophomore guard Zach Grothmann, said the coach, came up with some big plays for the Burros.

“He scored 8 points in the fourth quarter including a big steal and lay up for an old-fashioned 3-point play.”