It took two overtimes but the Lady Scots were able to snap a three game winning streak with a 46-40 win over Ontario, led by Bryleigh Young’s 13 point performance.
“Bryleigh stepped up and huge shots down the stretch,” said Coach Matt Bradley. “She is one of our most experienced players, and we feel confident that when she shoots it, it’s going in. So proud of her.”
Ontario was up 6-3 and looking for more, but Kate Clements had other ideas and swatted away a shot at the basket. Ontario was leading 10-7 when Alexis Brown stole the ball for the Lady Scots, and then Young tied up the game 10-10 with a three-pointer.
In the second quarter, Ontario took a 20-15 lead, thanks to a pair of threes for Edie Howard. Clements had three points and Amarie Morgan had two for the Lady Scots.
It was a low scoring third quarter and the score was 23-18 when Young drilled a three to cut the lead to two. Highland outscored Ontario 6-4 to make it a 24-21 game after three.
Ontario was up 28-21 in the fourth quarter, but Young struck again from deep to cut the lead to four. With Ontario up 32-28, Morgan hit a three to make it a one point game. Highland went on to outscore Ontario 13-10 in the fourth quarter to push the game into overtime. Each team scored four points in the first overtime frame. Ontario scored the first four and Highland responded with four of their own, highlighted by a three by Young.
Highland dominated the second overtime period 8-2 to take a six point win at home in a conference matchup. Morgan and Mullins had key steals in the overtime for the Lady Scots.
Young had 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting from three point land. She grabbed four defensive boards and dished out an assist. Mullins played well all-around with nine points, eight boards, three steals and an assist. Aubree Bellamy had nine points, three rebounds, five steals and a pair of assists. Morgan had five points and two steals, while Clements had four points, two rebounds and two assists. Makaylee Merckling and Reagan Maibach each had two points. Merckling also had four rebounds and two steals, while Maibach had four boards and an assist.
Highland shot 27% and 29% from three, while the Warriors shot 25% from the field and also from three. Ontario led 38-36 in rebounds, but the Lady Scots led 9-7 in assists and 16-10 in steals. Ontario had a 2-1 block advantage.
“Winning a varsity game, in any sport, is incredibly hard,” said Coach Bradley. “I’m so proud of our effort and resilience. We were down most of the game, and even got down four in the first overtime, but we kept our poise and got stops when we needed to. All eight of our girls battled and competed their tails off.”
Next up for Highland is a tough road game against Pleasant (12-1, 5-1) on Jan. 11 at 7:15 p.m.
