By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Highland Park girls were a little slow to shake off the effects of Thursday’s 71-22 drubbing at the hands of Wichita Life Prep. But the Scots eventually got it going Friday and pulled away from Meadowlark Conference rival Sumner Academy, 57-38.
Sophomore Pearmella Carter tied for game-high scoring honors with 16 points in Friday's 57-38 Highland Park home win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Scots stumbled out of the gate Friday, going scoreless for the first three minutes. Trailing 5-0, they got off the mat to take an 11-10 advantage at the end of the period. They used a 15-2 run to close the second quarter, leading 32-21.
From there, the Scots used defense and a dominant fourth quarter by sophomore Pearmella Carter to shut down the Sabres.
“We kind of had a slow start,” said coach Rob Brown. “But they buckled down and did what we’ve been preaching to them -- getting the ball moving from side to side, being patient with the ball, not turning it over and finding open teammates, making shots and finishing plays.”
Carter finished with 16 points to lead the Scots, followed by Tahtionna Broils with 14. Majesty Grace came off the bench to spark the Scots with three 3-pointers and 11 total points.
“There was a little bit of a letdown from yesterday,” Broils admitted. She said, as a senior leader of the team, it was important to help the team not get down after the loss to Life Prep.
“I just keep the girls in tune,” Broils said. “There’s no need to get down on your teammates. Even though they might miss a shot you gotta just keep them going. You just let them know, ‘Get back to another play.’ ”
Highland Park coach Rob Brown talks to his team during Friday's 57-38 home win over KC-Sumner. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Highland Park improved to 13-4, 9-0 in the Meadowlark Conference.
The weather, coupled with the game against Life Prep, has made things pretty disjointed of late. The Scots practiced just once this week prior to the game with Life Prep. They went 10 days between games.
The odd stretch continues as the Scots turn around to play a makeup game at home against Atchison on Saturday morning.
Brown said the loss to Life Prep was eye opening, but he said he hopes it helps prepare the Scots for challenges that lie ahead.
“That game was to get us prepared for sub-state. That was the main goal,” Brown said. “Not every game is easy in our league, but we needed to get a little bit more of a challenge and let our girls know what they need to get prepared for.”
HIGHLAND PARK GIRLS 57, SUMNER ACADEMY 38
Sumner Academy 10 11 10 7 -- 38
Highland Park 11 21 12 13 -- 57
Sumner Academy (9-9, 6-4) – George 4-11 1-1 10, Wilson 0-2 0-0 0, Haywood 6-21 3-6 16, Patrick 2-6 2-4 6, Brown 2-5 0-4 4, Holland 0-1 0-0 0, Lopez 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 15-48 6-15 38.
Highland Park (13-4, 9-0) – Broils 7-14 0-1 14, Hartz 2-7 0-0 5, Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Sanders 3-11 0-2 6, Carter 7-16 1-2 16, Kincaide 1-7 0-3 2, Grace 4-7 0-0 11, Cosey 0-2 0-0 0, Atkins 0-2 1-2 1, Paredes 0-0 0-0 0, Rice 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-70 2-10 57.
3-point goals – Sumner Academy 2 (George 1, Haywood 1), Highland Park 5 (Grace 3, Carter 1, Hartz 1). Total fouls – Sumner Academy 11, Highland Park 15. Fouled out – Patrick. Technical fouls – Patrick.
