PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands sophomore Laney Smith (1) gets in defensive position in a recent game.
Two days after a huge win, the Highlands Bluebirds girls basketball team (8-13 overall) dropped a 36th District contest.
Highlands built a 29-19 halftime lead. But ended up losing 52-45 to the Bellevue Tigers (14-7) on Wednesday. The Bluebirds are 0-2 in district play.
Free throws made a huge difference in this game. Bellevue made 12-of-15 for 80 percent and Highlands made just 8-of-18 for 44 percent.
Highlands placed two players in double figures. Freshman center Marissa Green and freshman guard Ellie Mohr scored 11 points each. Eighth grade guard Kaylee Mills scored eight.
Bellevue had one player reach double digits in senior forward Jaden Bivens with 12. Two freshmen in guard Sydni Massey and forward Courtney McCarty scored nine points each.
Highlands Faces Newport Central Catholic for District Championship
PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands senior Sophia Sarakatsannis (10) prepares to bump the ball in a recent game.
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The Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team (27-7 overall) mainly had to hit the serving targets to soundly advance to a 10th consecutive district championship game.
Host Highlands landed 23 aces in a sound 3-0 (25-6, 25-12, 25-11) win over the Bellevue Tigers on Tuesday in the 36th District semifinals. The Bluebirds earned a dominant top seed in the tournament and were the only team not to play on the first of three days Monday.
"I was proud of them," said Katelyn Sallee, Highlands Head Coach. "We were excited to get out there. Bellevue had a great game (Monday) in a hard-fought victory against Dayton. I'm just really glad we came out and took care of business against them."
Highlands will face Newport Central Catholic (13-22) for the district championship for the 10th straight season on Wednesday at 7 p.m. back at Russell Bridges Gym. The Bluebirds are seeking their fifth straight district crown and sixth in the last 10 years.
Seniors Madison Clore and Sophia Sarakatsannis led Highlands with seven aces each. Sarakatsannis added five kills. Senior Honor Valentine had four. Senior Josie Steppe and junior Kenzie Vennefron had two each.
The Bluebirds also had 31 kills and assists, one solo block by senior CC Shick and 22 digs. Clore had seven digs and Steppe had five. Senior Lauren Buemi had seven kills and Shick had six. Seniors Avery Cavacini and Nicole Ossege had five and four kills respectively.
Vennefron had 16 assists. Senior setter Madison Opitz added 13.
Some of the younger players saw action in the game. That included sophomore Rachel Ossege, who is cousins with Nicole Ossege.
"(The seniors) talk a lot to each other. They get along really well," Rachel Ossege said. "They all work really well as a team. They have fun while they're doing it."
The last time Highlands did not advance to the district title game came in 2011 in the program's last year in the old 37th District and 10th Region. The Bluebirds lost to Newport Central Catholic in the old blind draw days in the 37th semifinals. Highlands won the 36th District crown in 2012 in the first year in the current format.
Bluebirds Ready for District Championship Thursday
PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands junior Emma Riccobene (left) goes up for a score in a recent game while Piper Macke (1) watches in a recent game.
The Highlands Bluebirds needed to go 1-0 to start the postseason and hit a significant win total.
Highlands defeated the Bellevue Tigers, 83-39 to move to 20-10 on the season and move on to the 36th District championship game Thursday against the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (20-11) at Newport. The Bluebirds hit the 20-win mark in the season for the eighth straight season. Bellevue's season ended at 12-16.
PHOTO: G. Michael Graham. Highlands junior guard Katelyn Vaught (5) gets in defensive position while junior forward Emma Riccobene (31) watches. Highlands downed Bellevue, 79-27.
The streak against 36th District opponents reached 31 straight Wednesday with a convincing 79-27 road victory.
The Highlands Bluebirds girls basketball team (3-1 overall) opened district play against the Bellevue Tigers (3-1) four days after the first loss of the season. Highlands has not lost to a district opponent since a 55-45 loss at Newport Central Catholic in the district title game on Feb. 27, 2014.
PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands sophomore CC Shick goes through a drill earlier in the season.
The Highlands Bluebirds volleyball team (25-7 overall) had a chance to equal the win totals from the previous two years and took care of business quickly Tuesday just down the road.
Highlands defeated Bellevue, 3-0 (25-3, 25-12, 25-11) to finish 4-0 in 36th District seed play. The Bluebirds finished 25-11 the previous two years winning two district titles.
PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands beat Bellevue for its sixth straight win Friday.
The Highlands Bluebirds softball team (7-4 overall) recorded its second shutout of the season and fourth run-ruling with a convincing 11-0 win over the Bellevue Tigers in five innings on Friday.
Highlands has won six straight and moved to 2-0 in 36th District play. The Bluebirds are 3-2 in 9th Region play.
PHOTO: G. Michael Graham. Highlands post Ben Sisson goes up for a shot against Newport Central Catholic on Tuesday.
The win Tuesday was a nice win.
But the Highlands Bluebirds boys basketball team (13-9 overall) quickly went back to work Wednesday preparing for an equally important 36th District game against the Bellevue Tigers (6-15) on Saturday. Highlands matched the most wins in a season since Kevin Listerman became head coach in 2013 with a sound 68-47 home win. The Bluebirds finished 13-15 last year.
"We talked about that immediately following the game. We got into our regular routine," Listerman said. "The hardest thing is to maintain that level of focus and execution for an extended period of time and we talked about how important it is to strive for that. I felt for the most part we did a pretty good job (Saturday), especially on the offensive end. I thought we did a good job of moving the basketball and finding the open guy."
Bluebirds Hit Record 20 Three-Pointers in District Victory
PHOTO: Bob Jackson. Highlands junior Rylee Thomas (22) goes up for a shot in a recent game.
The Highlands Bluebirds girls basketball team (19-4 overall) once again overwhelmed a 36th District opponent extending the winning streak against district opponents to 27 straight.
Highlands led the Bellevue Tigers (11-9), 29-11 after one quarter and 56-22 at halftime on its way to a 94-41 victory. That is the season-high in points and the most lopsided win of the season. Bellevue's head coach is Tommy Sorrell.
PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands senior Luke LaFrange (3) puts up a shot against Bellevue on Friday. Highlands finished the regular season at 3-1 in 36th District action with a 79-61 win over the Tigers.
They wanted nothing more than to lock up no less than their highest seed since the 36th District went to a seeded format for its annual postseason basketball tournament four years ago.
The Highlands Bluebirds basketball team (10-12 overall) took care of that goal with a huge 79-61 victory over the Bellevue Tigers (6-14) on Friday in Fort Thomas. Bellevue had beaten Highlands in each of the past two seasons to push the Bluebirds down to the fourth seed. The Bluebirds finished 3-1 in district action and will be the second seed in the district tournament if Newport Central Catholic wins either of its final two district games against Bellevue and Dayton. The Bluebirds also moved to 7-5 in 9th Region action and Bellevue dropped to 0-3 in district play.
PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Highlands Head Coach Jeremy Baioni watches in a recent game.
The Highlands Bluebirds baseball team earned another outright top seed in the 36th District Tournament.
But at Highland Park on Thursday, the Bellevue Tigers made the Bluebirds (15-15 overall, 4-0 district) earn it with a 1-0 victory in eight innings. Brady Gosney batted in Trey Bowden in the bottom of the eighth to win the game off Bellevue pitcher Brady Hayes.
PHOTO: Allen Ramsey, DWCPhoto.com. Newport Central Catholic senior Zack Pangallo (12) goes to the basket in a recent game. NewCath beat Bellevue, 78-39 Wednesday for its 13th straight win.
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
Make that 29
in a row over 36th District opponents.
The Newport
Central Catholic Thoroughbreds dominated the host Bellevue Tigers, 73-31 in the
All “A” 9th Region quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Jake
Schulte led NewCath with 13 points.
The
Thoroughbreds face the St. Henry Crusaders on Friday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.
Covington Holy Cross and Newport play in the second game with the winners
meeting for the championship Saturday at 7 p.m. back at Bellevue.
