By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
HIGHLAND
HEIGHTS – It’s been a theme all year for the Blue and White.
The
Highlands Bluebirds girls basketball team has had to overcome tough stretches
to win games and Sunday was no different. The Bluebirds found themselves down
just 21-19 at halftime despite a rough half.
But
Highlands (26-7) turned things up 10 notches in the second half to beat the Ryle Lady
Raiders, 60-44 in the 9th Region semifinals. The Bluebirds outscored Ryle, 19-6
to turn the halftime deficit into a 38-27 lead entering the fourth quarter
before pulling away.
The end
result for the Bluebirds is their first trip to the 9th Region title game since
2002 when current Dixie Heights head coach Tara Boothe-Smith was a senior. Jaime
Walz-Richey became head coach the following year and Highlands had lost in its
previous three region semifinal appearances in 2004, 2007 and 2009.
“These six seniors set a goal when they started
playing that they wanted to be in the region championship,” Richey said. “They
just continued to play hard. They didn’t get down after the first half. We
played one of our worst halves in the first half. We told them what they needed
to do and they came out and executed. All the credit goes to the girls. They
did what we asked them to do in the second half.”
Highlands
played in nine straight region championship games from 1994 to 2002.
Walz-Richey led the Bluebirds to region crowns from 1994 to 1996 and Boothe-Smith
led Highlands to crowns in 2000 and 2001. Highlands finished state runner-up in
1994.
Highlands
faces Notre Dame at 7 p.m. for the title Monday. The Pandas won the regular-season
meeting, 63-48 on Jan. 8 in Park Hills. But Highlands hopes to play more
relaxed.
“We just have to come out and play our game and we’ll
be fine,” said Emilie Parton,
Highlands senior. “They’re the ones with
all the pressure.”
Notre Dame
has won 14 in a row and 18 of its last 19 contests and four in a row against
Highlands. The Bluebirds last beat the Pandas, 66-43 on Jan. 4, 2010 in Park
Hills.
Highlands
ended up shooting an amazing 46 percent from the field with three three-pointers
making 17-of-37 shots. The Bluebirds made 11-of-18 shots for 61 percent in the
first half after hitting 6-of-19 in the first half for 32 percent.
They made
23-of-31 free throws for 74 percent including 10-of-16 in the fourth quarter
for 63 percent. Vanessa Fisse made 8-of-10 attempts for Highlands on her way to
12 points and freshman Brianna Adler made all six attempts on her way to nine
points. Ava Abner scored all five of her points at the free-throw line making
5-of-6 attempts.
“If you look at teams that have won region
championships, they’re not led by freshmen or eighth-graders, they’re led by
seniors,” Richey said. “We’ve been telling her. When Vanessa plays
well, we win. We have a bunch of seniors with this group. They’re displaying it
with what they do.”
Ryle made
16-of-48 shots for 33 percent, including five three-pointers. The Lady Raiders
(12-18) also made just 7-of-12 free throws for 58 percent.
Highlands
once again saw balanced scoring as eight players scored. The Bluebird bench
outscored Ryle, 27-3. After Fisse, Leah Schaefer and Parton tallied 10 points.
“I was really focused,” Fisse said. “I
knew if we lost, our senior season would be done. I didn’t want that to happen
yet. We did what we needed to do to win.”
McKell
Oliverio led Ryle with 12 points and Anna
Monobe added 11. Highlands held guards Dawn Johnson to nine and Katie
Connor to no points. Freshman Carly Lange added nine for the Lad Raiders. Johnson
did not play in the regular-season contest Highlands won 76-56 on Jan. 11 in
Fort Thomas.
“We knew we had to watch (Connor) and not let her get
hot on the three-point line,” Richey
said. “We did a great job.”
Highlands
did a much better job taking care of the basketball. The Bluebirds had 16
assists, eight steals and just seven turnovers to 10 assists, three steals and
12 turnover for the Raiders.
Abner led
Highlands with four assists and four steals and Adler made four assists. Monobe
led Ryle with six dishes.
The
Bluebirds also won the rebounding battle, 31-25. Schaefer led Highlands with
eight and Lange grabbed nine for Ryle.
Highlands used
a 9-0 run to go up 9-3 with 3:30 left in the first half. The Bluebirds attacked
the Ryle 2-3 zone. Haley Coffey made a three-pointer to tie the game at three
and Schafer followed with an offensive putback before Fisse made two free
throws and Parton hit a jumper on the right side.
But after a
timeout, Ryle finished the quarter on an 11-0 run. Monobe hit a jumper in the
center with 36 seconds remaining to put the Lady Raiders up 14-9 entering the
second quarter.
Ryle led by
six twice in the second quarter. But Highlands finished the half with a 6-2
run. Jesse “Dirt” Daley made two free throws and Schaefer scored twice near the
rim.
“Leah and Ava dressed for a semifinal game (as
eighth-graders in 2009) when we lost,”
Richey said. “I think it was just
tightness. I told them before the game, ‘You don’t look relaxed.’ Just go out
there and play the game of basketball. This is what you like to do. I think
they finally did that in the second half.”
The
Bluebirds used a 7-0 run to start the second half and go up for good at 26-21
with 5:30 left in the third. Schaefer scored again near the rim and made two
free throws before Adler made a three-pointer.
“Jaime said at the beginning it would be a game of
runs,” Schaefer said. “We got on a little run and tried to stay
up (intensity-wise). It gave us a lot more confidence.”
Highlands
led by as much as 12 at one point in the quarter after two Adler free throws.
Adler added two more free throws with 14.5 to finish the quarter and give the
Bluebirds their 11-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Bluebirds
extended their lead to 15 at 48-33 midway through the fourth quarter before the
Lady Raiders made their run. They trimmed the margin to six twice in the final
2:03. But Parton answered with two breakaway lay-ups. The second one put
Highlands up 52-44 with about a minute and half left in the game.
“They were coming back so we had to do something,” Parton said. “We
finally broke the press. We didn’t freak out when they started pressing us so
that really helped.”
The
Blubirds finished the game with a 10-0 run. Parton made three lay-ups during
that run.
Ryle
graduates four seniors. They are Johnson, Connor, Monobe and Oliverio.
.JPG)
