ANDERSON — Any team that shoots poorly on one end and gives up too many easy shots on the other is working from a recipe for disaster.
Such was the case for the Highland Scots girls basketball team Saturday afternoon.
Jay County scored as many points in the second half as Highland did in the game on its way to a 45-32 Olympic Conference victory.
“Whoever wins this game will be in the driver’s seat in the conference,” said Highland coach Chad Cook prior to tipoff.
Both teams entered the game 1-0 in league play.
At halftime, the Scots trailed just 13-11, and they would have been ahead except for fronting the Patriots two big inside players, 6-foot-1 junior Danielle Link and 5-11 sophomore Mariah Hornaday.
The Jay County guards passed over the Highland defense to give Hornaday three layups and Link one.
“They list those as being 6-1 and 5-11, but the shorter one was at least 6-1 and the other one was 6-3 or 6-4,” said Cook.
All of Highland’s first-half scoring came from Krosley Ogden (five points), Jessika Lark (three) and Kelsey Key (three).
By game’s end the Scots’ shooting numbers told a ruthless tale. The home team took 21 shots from 3-point range against Jay County’s zone and hit just one. Even the shooting inside the arc wasn’t great, as Highland netted just 10-of-24 shots.
“We are probably more like a 4-for-12 or 4-for-15 team (from 3-point range),” said Cook. “They didn’t take bad shots. Those were open looks. We’ve got to knock down open looks. But the only way we’ll get better is just by shooting them.”
The Scots also were outrebounded 33-26 to offset any edge they might have enjoyed from turning the ball over just 13 times.
After the Patriots had softened the Scots inside, they turned the scoring over to the guards. Pazia Speed, the lone senior on the team, had just two points at halftime but finished with a game-high 13. Katie Butcher added 10 points, but seven of those came from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter when the Scots had to foul to try and get the ball.
The Scots’ frantic defensive pressure in the final eight minutes forced six Jay County miscues, but the cold shooting prevented that from making a difference in the outcome.
Lark and Key tied for high-scoring honors with nine points apiece. Lark was undercut by Jay County’s Butcher on a play at the end of the third quarter and missed the first half of the fourth quarter.
“She banged her head,” said Cook. “I was trying to take as many timeouts and as much time as I could to see if she could come back in.”
Lark scored five of her nine in the fourth quarter after her return.
Jay County improved to 8-2, and the Scots dropped to 3-4.
Highland will host Anderson on Wednesday in the first half of the boys/girls doubleheader.
High School Sports
Scots fall to Patriots
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