Highlands Basketball Roundup: Bluebirds drop opener, Ladybirds handle Grant County

PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands junior Mitch Cain (5) puts up a shot in Friday's season opener against St. Henry. The Bluebirds lost 65-55 to the Crusaders.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds basketball team opened the season Friday at home with a 65-55 loss to the St. Henry Crusaders (3-2).

Highlands saw two players reach double figures. They were seniors Parker Harris with 16 and Kenny Ball with 14.

Highlands resumes action Tuesday. The Bluebirds travel to Dixie Heights for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Ladybirds continue to roll:

The Ladybirds basketball team (4-0) handled the host Grant County Lady Braves (1-4), 68-43. They have beaten their first four opponents by nearly 30 points on average.

Highlands saw six players hit double-digits in scoring. Posts McKenzie Leigh and Alex Combs nearly had double-doubles with 12 and 11 points respectively and nine rebounds each. Combs, who signed with West Virginia Tech of the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics located not far from the state capital of Charleston in Montgomery earlier in the week, also added a team-high four assists and two steals.

Zoie Barth and Lydia Graves also scored 12 points each for Highlands. Barth made all six free-throw attempts.

Veteran Highlands junior starters Haley Coffey and Brianna Adler also made huge contributions. Adler hit all four free throws on her way to 11 points and Coffey scored 10. Adler added a team-high three steals.

The rebounding made the huge difference in the game. Highlands won that battle, 42-27. That included an 18-7 advantage on the offensive glass.

That is the big reason why the Ladybirds took more shots. They hit 22-of-56 for 39 percent, including 6-of-23 from outside for 26 percent. Highlands also made 18-of-24 free-throw tries for 75 percent.

Highlands also took excellent care of the basketball turning the ball over just four times. Grant County had 11 turnovers.

The Lady Braves made 15-of-42 shots for 36 percent, including 7-of-22 triples for 32 percent. They also made 6-of-13 free-throw tries for 46 percent.

Grant County saw one player reach double digits. That was Macy Wright with 12.

Highlands returns home Saturday. The Ladybirds face South Oldham at 2:30 p.m.