Sporting a 12-2 record including a seven-game winning streak, the Highlands High School girls basketball team is off to a strong start.
The high-flying Bluebirds have victories against 9th Region contenders Dixie Heights and Holy Cross. They smashed a Louisville Valley team that won 22 games last season and nine of its first 11 this season. They went 3-1 at the highly competitive Lady Invitational of The South at Allen County-Scottsville. Among Highlands’ three conquests there was a win over reigning 11th District champion Breckinridge County. The Lady Tigers won their first nine games of the season, but they were no match for Highlands.
Just one month into the schedule, the two-time defending 36th District champion is already more than halfway to last season’s win total of 22. Highlands’ losses this season came against a pair of defending regional champs, Cooper and Henderson County, two schools that faced off in last season’s state tournament quarterfinals. Highlands is a returning 9th Region tournament semifinalist looking for further advancement in the final season for three key seniors.
“That’s the goal,” said senior post player Marissa Green. “We all want that.”
As good as they have looked in the early going, the Bluebirds have yet to become the best versions of themselves. This, according to someone who should know, head coach Jaime Richey, who recently surpassed 450 career wins at the school.
“The girls are working hard but we haven’t been completely healthy,” Richey said. “Injuries have allowed other girls to step up.”
A half dozen players have missed action due to injury, aches and pains and sickness. Just five of Richey’s players have made an appearance in every contest. This has resulted in several players stepping up and taking care of things. The use of surplus has yielded six different Bluebirds who’ve led the team in game scoring. The need for more minutes from the bench has added to team depth.
Green, a University of Illinois-Chicago commit, has paced the team in scoring six times. This includes the last three games as she ramps back up to full speed following a lower leg injury. But there have been some surprise performances, especially from emerging freshman guard Maren Orme.
Orme has paced the team in scoring three times. Included are back-to-back career-high outings in the first two games of the season. Orme dropped in 20 points in the season opening win against Dixie Heights, which later beat Ryle and Notre Dame. Two days later in a loss to three-time defending 9th Region champion Cooper, Orme scored 22. She is second on the Bluebirds with 9.8 points per game entering the week. She averaged 13 points over the first six games helping Highlands to the hot start.
“Maren has definitely stepped up her scoring and she has extended her game,” coach Richey said.
Junior guard Kaylee Mills paced the team in scoring twice with a season-high 13 in a win against Dayton. Junior forward Avery Barber led with 11 points in a win against Owen County.
Eighth grade forward Bailey Richey, one of the coach’s daughters, scored a career-high 17 in a victory over Mercer County. It’s the most points in a game for a Highlands eighth grader since Orme scored 19 last season against Lloyd. Richey’s rise marks the fourth season in the past five that Highlands has come up with an emerging eighth grader. It’s a group that includes Green, five years ago, and Katie Bucher four years ago.
“It seems like it’s a different girl leading us in scoring every night,” Richey said. “And different girls are helping us in other ways as well.”
Senior center Tyriana Berry scored a team-high 20 points in the double-overtime win against Holy Cross. The Indians beat Highlands by 19 last season. Berry typically has been one of the first players off the bench for coach Richey.
Also in reserve with Bailey Richey and Berry are senior Aubrey Barrett, junior Madison Barlow, sophomore Maddie Lickert and freshman Gabby Neufarth. Barrett, Barlow and Neufarth all scored in double figures Thursday in a district win over Bellevue. Each scored 11 points.
“They have given us solid minutes off the bench,” Richey said. “And we need them to do that.”
Highlands’ twin towers, the 6-foot-4 Green and 6-3 Berry, are still a work in progress. Injuries have kept them from fulfilling their massive potential in the front court. When they get on the floor at the same time, at full strength, the Bluebirds expect something big. At the very least they will have one of the more formidable 1-2 front court tandems in the area.
“When her and I are at full go, I expect a bunch of high-lows and lots of rebounds,” Green said. “I also expect to see a lot of zone defense and outside defenses coming in and helping out down low. That will open things up for other girls.”
That’s the plan. For now, the Bluebirds play the waiting game as their big girls finish recovering from nagging injuries. The injury bug has limited Green and Berry to just a few games together on the court with both playing at 100%.
Through the first month of the schedule, Green missed three games due to a calf injury. She felt completely fine in just a handful of outings. Berry missed one game with ankle discomfort and was less than full speed in a few others. Despite the missed time, Green leads the Bluebirds in scoring average with 14 points per game entering the week. She’s converting a team-leading 63.3% of her shots from the field. Berry leads the Bluebirds with 6.4 rebounds, followed by Green at 5.9.
Coach Richey said her bigs complement each other in a huge way on the hardwood.
“Marissa is more of a finesse player,” Richey said. “Ty is more of a banger.”
Next in scoring after Green and Orme are Mills (6.7 ppg), Barber (6.4 ppg), Berry (6.4), Bucher (6.1) and Richey (3.8). Bucher and Barber both shoot about 43% from 3-point range, led by Bucher’s 43.3%. Barber leads the Bluebirds with 75% free throw shooting. She is third with 4.8 rebounds followed by Bucher at 4.1.
With the best of Green and Berry likely still ahead, both have already had some big games. Green, a four-year starter with college offers before her freshman year, poured in a season-high 22 points against Louisville Valley. She added seven rebounds with a couple blocked shots in the victory. She scored 20 points in a win against Breckinridge County. Green had 18 points and seven rebounds in a win over Scott. She’s averaging 19 points over the last three games.
Berry, a Cincinnati Withrow transfer, grabbed 15 rebounds while scoring her 20 points as Green missed the Holy Cross game. Berry drew her first start in place of Green in that contest. She scored five points in the second overtime against Holy Cross, including a go-ahead free throw in the final seconds securing a one-point victory.
A four-sport athlete at Withrow, Berry averaged 13.7 points, 17.3 rebounds and 5.7 blocked shots last season for the Tigers. She led the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference in rebounding and blocks and was sixth in scoring. Berry recorded 11 double-doubles in scoring and rebounding. She added two more double-doubles, one in scoring and blocks and the other in rebounds and blocks. Berry had a pair of games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds. She was one point short of a triple-double against Clark Montessori.
In her current role, Berry might be one of the best bench players in Kentucky. She has committed to play basketball at Furman University. Last season at Withrow, she was a CMAC player of the year and defensive player of the year.
“We’re definitely looking forward to getting Marissa and Ty on the floor together at full strength,” Richey said. “We want to see how they perform with each other and see how teams will try to defend that.”
Green can’t wait.
“I’m really excited about what’s ahead,” Green said. “Everybody has to get healthy, and we have to keep working hard.”