Simon Kenton pulls away from Ladybirds

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands senior Tomi Blanton (12) guards Simon Kenton's Abby Owings (11) in Friday's regular-season finale. Blanton scored nine points in the 55-41 Lady Pioneer win.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

INDEPENDENCE – The Highlands Ladybirds basketball team knows where it stands with the state’s elite.

The Ladybirds finished the regular season facing the state’s fourth-ranked Simon Kenton Lady Pioneers in a year with no clear-cut favorite. Highlands (21-6) hung with Simon Kenton (25-3) halfway through the third quarter before the hosts pulled away for a 55-41 victory.

“We just told the girls we schedule Simon Kenton this time of the year because it is a great out-of-region opponent that is going to get us ready for our district and regional tournaments,” said Jaime Walz-Richey, Highlands Head Coach. “We’re not going to see Simon Kenton again this year. We just have to learn from the mistakes we made in this game and get better for the district and regional tournament games.”

Rebounding, turnovers and missed shots near the rim kept Highlands from the victory. Simon Kenton forced 14 turnovers on eight steals and turned the ball over just six times on four Highlands steals. Christina Cook led Simon Kenton with two thefts.

The Lady Pioneers outrebounded the Ladybirds, 33-24 including 14-5 on the offensive glass. Rachel Cox led the way for Simon Kenton with seven rebounds to go with nine points. Alex Combs grabbed seven rebounds to lead Highlands and added a team-high two steals.

Those two combined to let Simon Kenton take 19 more shots. The Lady Pioneers hit 23-of-53 attempts for 43 percent including 3-of-15 three-point tries for 20 percent. The Ladybirds made just 11-of-34 shots for 32 percent and 4-of-16 three-point tries for 25 percent.

“You play by how well you play defense,” said Jeffrey Stowers, Simon Kenton Head Coach. “Everything else goes around that. We feel we have enough bodies we can throw at people. We felt like they couldn’t dribble around us so we got up, crowded them and tried to keep them off the three-point line.”

Free throws kept Highlands in striking distance. The Ladybirds made 15-of-17 attempts for 88 percent and the Lady Pioneers made just 6-of-12 for 50 percent.

Point guard Abby Owings paced the Simon Kenton attack with 20 points making 7-of-12 shots.

“We wanted (Owings) to have to dribble with her left hand,” Richey said of Owings. “We felt we gave up some easy points in the first half letting her go to her right. But she’s a great player and great outside shooter.”

No one else made double-figures for Simon Kenton. But the Lady Pioneers had better balance with five players scoring at least seven points to just two scoring more than six for the Ladybirds.

Sophomore Brianna Adler led Highlands with 12 points making all eight free-throw attempts. Senior Tomi Blanton followed with nine making all four free-throw tries.

Simon Kenton scored the game’s first five points before McKenzie Leigh hit a triple. The lead became 9-3 before Blanton made a triple. Adler drew a foul on a three-point try with .2 seconds left and made all three free throws to cut the margin to 13-9 after the first quarter.

Highlands came back and took the lead three times in the second quarter. Leigh made her second three-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half to put Highlands up 26-24.

Highlands looked to go up by four in the closing seconds. The Ladybirds had numbers in fast-break opportunity. But the ball was deflected and Owings fired down-court to teammate Maggi Bosse for the old-fashioned three-point play as time expired to put Simon Kenton up 27-26 at halftime.

The Ladybirds cut the lead to one three times in the first four minutes of the second half. Lydia Graves hit a jumper to cut it to 33-32 at one point before Simon Kenton went on a 9-0 run to go up 42-32.

Zoie Barth ended the run with two free throws with 1:16 left in the third to trim the margin to 42-34. But Kelsey Schmiade’s bucket with two seconds left put Simon Kenton up 44-34 entering the fourth quarter.

“It was their Senior Night,” Richey said. “We knew we’d have to match their intensity coming into the third quarter. We struggled with that a little bit.”

The Lady Pioneers then iced it with a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter. An Owings score gave Simon Kenton a 50-34 advantage with 4:31 left in the game.

The biggest lead for Simon Kenton came with 1:38 left in the game. MacKenzie Hester hit two free throws at that point for the Lady Pioneers.

“This is the last practice game for district and regionals,” Stowers said. “That’s why I like to play them. We’re going to see good, solid teams like them. It was a good way to end the season on a note like that.”

Highlands earned the top seed in the 36th District Tournament and plays either Dayton (6-17) or Bellevue (14-13) in the semifinals Tuesday. Game time is 6 p.m. at Newport Central Catholic. Highlands won the district tournament last year.