The Highland (3-7, 2-4) girls' basketball team has had an up-and-down season so far, and most recently they were handily beaten 45-9 by Granville (9-0, 2-0).
The Blue Aces, who are undefeated to start the season and holding sole possession of first in the Licking County-Buckeye Conference, have been blowing out teams all season. They have outscored opponents 521-246 and every win has been by at least 16 points.
The Blue Aces opened up the game with a 19-2 lead, kicked off by a three pointer by Aliyah Moore with 7:40 on the clock. They tacked on two more points before Moore struck again from three to make it an 8-0 game with 5:45 left. Up 11-0, Harper Annarino drilled a three pointer to continue the torrid pace. Granville went on an 18-0 run to start the quarter, before Makaylee Merckling stole the ball. Reagan Maibach scored shortly after to put the Lady Scots on the board for the first time.
Granville had an 8-3 second quarter advantage, with Merckling scoring a basket and Alexis Brown hitting a foul shot. It was a 27-5 game at halftime.
It was all Granville in the third quarter, shutting out the Lady Scots 12-0. Hannah Rogovin hit a pair of threes in the quarter. Granville went on to outscore the Lady Scots 6-4 in the fourth quarter, with Amarie Morgan and Addie Mullins each scoring a basket.
Rogovin led Granville with 10 points and was the only player in the game to reach double figures.
Highland got two points from Mullins, Maibach, Morgan and Merckling, while Brown had one point. Brown also had two defensive boards, two steals and a block. Aubree Bellamy had three defensive boards, one assist and a steal. Merckling and Morgan had two steals, as well.
Maibach tallied three defensive rebounds and two steals. Mullins had a team high five rebounds. Sierra Fitzpatrick snagged two rebounds and Bryleigh Young had one.
Highland’s defense held Granville to only 32% shooting and 32% from beyond the arc, but they had trouble with their own shot falling with 13% and zero threes. Highland had 20 boards, eight steals, two assists and a block in the game.
"All credit to Granville," said Highland Coach Matt Bradley. "They are a tremendous team and a great program that will likely win the district title again. We struggled to handle their defensive pressure, and unfortunately, when we did get open looks we couldn't finish. We're excited to compete again on Friday against Ontario in a league game."
This loss made it three straight defeats for Highland, and the Lady Scots look to turn things around on Jan. 5 against Ontario (5-6, 2-4) starting at 7:30 p.m.
