Highlands pulls away from Scott

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands sophomore Brianna Adler makes a move in Monday's game at Scott. The Bluebirds downed the Lady Eagles, 56-47 to move to 16-5 on the season with the win.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

TAYLOR MILL – They struggled to make plays down the stretch going 2-2 last week.

But that was not the case Monday. The Highlands Bluebirds girls basketball team outscored the Scott Lady Eagles, 21-13 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 56-47 victory.

Highlands (16-5) built a 13-point advantage in that quarter before making enough free throws to win the game. Scott (12-7) did not score any field goals in that quarter until 37.4 seconds remained in the game.

“In these past two games, we had to finish it in the fourth quarter,” said Jaime Walz-Richey, Highlands Head Coach. “It’s refreshing to see. We watched some film from the Holmes game and showed them what we need to get better at. I thought we did a great job defensively.”

The major emphasis came on the glass. Highlands won the rebounding battle 42-30. McKenzie Leigh led the way with 11 rebounds and Alex Combs had 10 to go with 12 points for a double-double.

The Bluebirds saw all five starters score at least seven points. Lydia Graves led Highlands with 13 points and Haley Coffey had 10. Leigh followed with nine and Brianna Adler scored all seven of her points in that crucial fourth quarter.

Adler had been struggling. But she started a 5-0 run in the start of the fourth quarter with a three-pointer from the right wing and a back door lay-up to put Highlands up 40-34 with 6:43 left in the game.

“I can’t stop shooting,” Adler said. “Jaime and (Assistant Coach) Bert (Richey) have told me if I’m open and I don’t shoot, I’ll sit the bench. That kind of forces me to shoot them. If I miss them, (my teammates) will rebound them and put them back in so I’m not worried about that part.”

Following two Scott made free throws, Highlands expanded its lead to 51-38 on an 11-2 run. Graves led the way with five points.

The Lady Eagles did make things interesting with a 6-0 run to cut the margin to 51-44 with 24.5 seconds remaining. But Highlands sealed the deal making 5-of-6 free throws to finish the game. Leigh made 3-of-4 and Combs hit both attempts during that run.

“We had some mental lapses late when they were pressing,” Richey said. “We have to make adjustments to that. We tell the girls these are just scrimmages. We’re trying to fine-tune so we’re hitting on all cylinders come the end of the month entering the district and regional tournaments. We have to make sure we’re getting better every night and I felt in the fourth quarter, we got better.”

Ally Neace and Alexis Stapleton led the Scott efforts with 16 and 13 points respectively. Neace hit all five free-throw attempts and Stapleton made two three-pointers along with all three free-throw tries.

Highlands made 16-of-47 shots for 34 percent and 20-of-25 free throws for 80 percent and Scott hit 16-of-51 shots for 31 percent and 11-of-13 free throws for 85 percent. Both teams made 4-of-15 three-point attempts for 27 percent.

Both teams recorded 13 turnovers against pressure defense. Highlands had eight steals and Scott made five. Zoie Barth led the Bluebirds with three thefts. The Bluebirds are not afraid to spread the floor late in the game with a lead.

“Every day at practice, we do ball-handling drills,” said Tomi Blanton, Highlands senior guard. “Everybody has to be better at it so we can bring the ball up the court, make the extra pass and score. I think everyone is confident in bringing the ball upcourt.”

Scott scored the game’s first five points as both teams struggled to score to start the game. Combs hit a triple from the left wing for Highlands’ first three points of the game with 3:30 remaining in the quarter.

Highlands took a 10-9 lead into the second quarter when Graves put back an offensive rebound just before the buzzer. Neither team led by more than four points until the fourth quarter.

The Bluebirds led 21-17 at halftime. Graves made two free throws with a minute remaining to give Highlands that advantage.

The Bluebirds led 35-34 entering the fourth quarter. Scott led twice in that quarter.

Highlands does not play again until Friday. The Bluebirds travel to Beechwood (10-9) for a 7:30 p.m. contest.