By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The Highland Park girls gained revenge on visiting Atchison for a defeat just eight days ago and took a big step toward a league title in the process Tuesday, winning 60-30.
Junior Tahtionna Broils led Highland Park with 16 points in Tuesday's 60-30 Meadowlark Conference win over Atchison Tuesday night. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Freshman Pearmella Carter scored 15 points in Tuesday's 60-30 Highland Park team over Atchison. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Both Highland Park and Atchison entered the contest with one loss in the Meadowlark Conference. The Scots' defense stifled the Phoenix in the revenge match, with Atchison held to single-digit scoring in each of the first three periods.
After losing by eight at Atchison, Highland Park steamrolled the Phoenix in Topeka West’s gym, where the Scots are playing multiple home games while their court undergoes repairs.
“Since coming into the Meadowlark league, Atchison has been kind of our league rival, “Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. “They beat us last Monday, so we talked about it all week, that we needed to get that ‘get-back’ win to secure the conference title.
“The main difference tonight was we were a few players short last time we played. We had a few players down. But this time we came out with better energy, we were more focused, and we just made shots.”
The Scots throttled Atchison with full-court pressure that limited the visitors to just four shot attempts in the first four minutes. By that time, Highland Park had established an 11-2 lead.
“Our defense locked up on them,” Brown said. “We threw that full-court three-two press and it worked to our advantage with our length and our athleticism. That helped us out a lot today.”
The Scots improved to 11-5, 6-1 in the conference. The players understood the significance of the match Tuesday.
“It was really important to us that we beat them after they beat us,” said senior Angelique Gown-Britt. “We knew we should have won last time, so we came back and made sure we got the win. We just weren’t there mentally last time. We got out there tonight and had our energy and got it done.”
The Scots were led by Tahtionna Broils with 16 points and Pearmella Carter with 15.
Atchison, which dropped to 6-2 in the league, was paced by Tyeera Heyward with 11 points and Kaiya Downing with 10.
HIGHLAND PARK GIRLS 60, ATCHISON 30
Atchison 9 6 4 11 -- 30
Highland Park 17 11 19 13 -- 60
Atchison (9-7, 6-2) – Simpson 2-14 2-2 7, Heyward 5-10 1-4 11, Boldridge 0-1 0-0 0, Stoves 0-5 0-0 0, Downing 5-8 0-0 10, Wilder 1-2 0-0 2, Banks 0-4 0-0 0, Housh 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 13-48 3-8 30.
Highland Park (11-5, 6-1) – Gown-Britt 2-3 2-2 7, Broils 6-12 3-6 16, Rice 1-3 0-0 3, Carter 7-13 0-1 15, Austin 2-7 0-0 0, Grace 2-3 0-0 5, Jones 3-5 0-0 7, Atkins 0-1 0-0 0, Webster 0-0 0-0 0, Cullens 0-1 0-0 0, Cosey 0-0 0-0 0, Barnett 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 24-49 5-9 60.
3-point goals – Atchison 1 (Simpson), Highland Park 7 (Gown-Britt 1, Broils 1, Rice 1, Carter 1, Austin 1, Grace 1, Jones 1). Total fouls – Atchison 17, Highland Park 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
