Highlands cruises in 36th opener

PHOTO: Allen Ramsey DWCPhoto.com. Highlands guard Haley Coffey (center) goes up for a score in Thursday's 36th District contest at Dayton. Highlands won 82-30 to move to 2-0 on the season.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Ladybirds basketball team avoided a letdown with a convincing 82-30 win over the host Dayton Lady Devils on Thursday.

Highlands (2-0 overall, 1-0 36th District) jumped out to a 202 lead after the first quarter and cruised. The Ladybirds led 42-13 at halftime.

Eighth-grader Zoie Barth scored a career-high 16 points in the win for Highlands. She added two assists and three steals.

Highlands put a lot of pressure on Dayton. Dayton (0-2, 0-1) had 30 turnovers on 20 Highlands steals. The Ladybirds recorded nine turnovers on three Lady Devil steals. Whitney Quillen led Highlands with five steals and Brianna Adler had four.

The Ladybirds saw 13 different players score. Lydia Graves and Alex Combs followed with 10 points each. Adler followed with eight.

Highlands shot well from the field making 28-of-59 shots for 48 percent. That includes 10-of-22 from three-point range for 46 percent and 16-of-25 free throws for 64 percent.

Dayton shot just 42 percent (10-of-24) from the field including 1-of-6 from three-point land for 17 percent. The Lady Devils also made just 9-of-14 free-throw tries for 64 percent.

Dayton did not see any players reach double-digit scoring. Mallory Kubala led the Lady Devils with eight points.

Highlands also distributed the ball well with 15 assists to one for Dayton. Adler and Combs had three assists each for the Ladybirds.

Highlands does not play again until Tuesday. The Ladybirds battle Bishop Brossart in the home opener. Game time is 7:30 p.m.