The Highlands Bluebirds girls basketball team (13-6) may be sneaking in under the radar to an extent compared to other teams in the 9th Region.
But the bottom line is the Bluebirds are performing near their standards following a 66-55 home win over the Walton-Verona Bearcats (7-10). Highlands built a 13-point lead in the first half and the lead stayed in the nine to 13-point range the rest of the way in its second win over Walton-Verona this year. The Bluebirds have won five of their last six games including a convincing 64-37 win at Newport Central Catholic.
“We talked about that in the locker room. We should be excited,” said Jaime Walz-Richey, Highlands head coach. “We have flipped our record from last year just getting everyone to buy in. It doesn’t matter if you play a second at all. We should be excited for our teammates. It’s a credit to those girls for pushing through and doing those things we’ve asked them to do in the summer and preseason. We just have to continue to learn.”
The Bluebirds came into this season with more varsity experience after taking lumps last year in a 12-17 campaign. Highlands had won 20 or more games the previous nine seasons and had won seven straight 36th District championships before NewCath won it last year.
A big key to the turnaround is improved 3-point shooting. The Bluebirds have hit 109 of 360 three-point tries this year compared to 80 of 342 last year.
Highlands hit 9-of-20 three-point shots in this win forcing Walton-Verona to defend the 6-foot-2-inch sophomore post Marissa Green one-on-one. Freshman guard Saylor Macke made three 3-pointers on her way to 15 points. Green had a near double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.
“You have to see where the defense is,” Green said of controlling the paint. “If there is two on you, you have to kick it out. Ball fakes and going into (opponents) trying to get a foul called works great. We’re keeping our confidence up, shooting the ball when we’re open and making great plays to our teammates that are open.”
Five different Bluebirds hit 3-pointers in this game. Senior guard Alyssa Harris made two on her way to 12 points and sophomore sister Adrienne Harris made one on her way to nine points. Freshman forward Avery Barber made two triples on her way to eight points.
“We’re putting in a lot of time and effort,” Adrienne Harris said. “Definitely, our coaches are doing a great job just trying to push us. Winning has been great now that we’re on a roll with it. We just keep answering (opponents) and hoping to do our best.”
Highlands made 56 percent of its shots in total to go with 23 rebounds, 17 assists, 10 steals and 20 turnovers. Freshman forward Katie Bucher had a team-high six assists and Barber recorded a team-high three steals.
Fouls made the difference in this game. Walton-Verona committed 13 to seven for Highlands. The Bearcats made all four free-throw attempts to go with 38 percent shooting from the field including 35 percent from three-point range and 21 rebounds.
“In the fourth quarter, I thought our effort was really good,” said Rianna Gayheart, Walton-Verona head coach. “I wish we’d have had that same defensive intensity in the first half as well. It’s really hard to play on the road out of region, especially here at Highlands. They’re always well-coached. It’s really hard to fall behind in the first half and try to fight your way back into it. Trying to play with that intensity and get that lead early so that we have that cushion will be important.”
Sophomore 6-foot-2 forward Braylin Terrell neutralized Green in the middle scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds for Walton-Verona. Terrell even recorded an incredible block of Green in transition.
Senior wing Grace Brewer recorded a near double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds for the Bearcats. Eighth grade guard Elin Logue made three triples on her way to 15 points and senior wing Jenna Rodgers made three 3-pointers on her way to nine points.
Highlands scored the game’s first six points and never looked back. Logue made a three to trim the margin to 6-3 before Macke and freshman point guard Kaylee Mills made threes to push the Highlands lead to 12-3.
Highlands increased the lead to 15-5 after a Barber three-pointer. Logue made another three and Terrell had an offensive putback to trim the margin to 15-10 before Macke made another three to give Highlands an 18-10 lead after one.
“We told them we didn’t want Logue to have any threes,” Richey said. “We got lucky to come out with a win. We have to do a better job following our game plan. We’d rather give up twos than threes because they’re such a good three-point shooting team.”
After Alyssa Harris made a three, Terrell made two free throws and Rodgers had a three from the right corner to make it 21-15 Highlands. After a timeout, Harris made another three and Green hit a jumper in the center to push the Highlands lead back out to 28-17. Walton-Verona cut the lead to nine five times the rest of the way, but came no closer.
Highlands travels to Dayton (5-13) on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. game. Walton-Verona plays at Grant County (12-7) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Girls Basketball
Notre Dame 53, Grant County 39
The Pandas (11-4) downed the Braves (12-7) in Park Hills in non-region play.
Eight different Notre Dame players scored. Senior forward Noelle Hubert led the way scoring 12 points.
The Pandas play at Holy Cross (14-5) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Girls Basketball Score
St. Patrick 55, Covington Latin 8
Boys Basketball Scores
Ludlow 63, Calvary Christian 22
Campbell County 84, Holmes 49
Heritage Academy 68, Dayton 64
Bellevue 69, Villa Madonna 55