NASHVILLE — After hitting three 3-pointers in a win against Mater Dei last week, Nashville sophomore guard Jordi Harre wasn't expecting any open shots in the Hornettes' rematch against the Knights.
But, Jordi Harre had two early 3-pointers and the Hornettes rode the hot start to a 44-36 win over the Knights on Saturday.
"I figured they wouldn't let me have the ball after last time,'' said Jordi Harre, who finished with a team-leading 15 points. "I guess they left me open, so I was happy about that.''
Jordi Harre hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark the Hornettes to a 12-0 lead.
"We let Jordi (get) open way to many times, just way too many times,'' Mater Dei coach Dave Kohnen said. "We were helping out for some reason, and you can't leave a shooter open like that.''
The closest the Knights got the rest of the way was four points after a steal and a layup by Lindsey Perkes with 6:41 left in the fourth quarter.
The Knights fell back 37-29 before drawing within five points after a 3 from Anna Lampe with 3:20 remaining.
Nashville's Shaye Harre answered with a three-point play with 2:54 left, and the Hornettes went 4-for-6 at the free-throw line over the final 1:32 to shore up their second win over the Knights in a week.
The Hornettes edged the Hornettes 47-45 last Saturday in the third-place game at the Highland Tournament.
"I wasn't looking forward to playing twice because it was such a hard game the first time,'' Jordi Harre said.
The Hornettes improved to 25-1. They also got 14 points from Erica Brown, seven points from Shaye Harre and six points from Shawn Rennergarbe.
The Knights, who dropped to 20-4, were paced by Avoynna Kampwerth with nine points and Emily Koelling with eight points.
Four turnovers contributed to the slow start for the Knights, who finally got on the scoreboard thanks to a 3 from Madeline Lager with 1:54 left in the first quarter.
"We've been doing that lately, and we can't afford to do that against good teams,'' Kohnen said of the bad start. "It's just too much of a battle.''
A 3-pointer from Paige Richards trimmed the Knights' deficit to 17-10 in the second quarter, but 3-pointers from Brown and Jordi Harre enabled the Hornettes to maintain a 25-14 cushion at halftime.
Nashville coach Wayne Harre said the game was eerily similar to the contest the previous Saturday.
The Hornettes jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first quarter and led 25-16 at halftime in that game.
"That's what I told them at haftime. I said, 'I feel like last Saturday,''' Wayne Harre said.
Brown and Shaye Harre scored back-to-back baskets at the start of the third quarter as the Hornettes extended their lead to 15 points.
Kampwerth converted a three-point play to cut the Hornettes' lead to 33-25 at the end of the third quarter.
Just like the previous game, the Knights tried to make a comeback only to fall short.
"Like I told you guys last Saturday, we knew they were going to make a run at us,'' Wayne Harre said. "I thought we held our composure pretty good when then put a lot of heat on us.''
Kohnen said the Knights have a lot of little things to fix before the postseason start in two weeks.
"Those little things have to be corrected,'' Kohnen said. "This time of year you better clean it up pretty quick.''
Contact reporter Steve Korte at skorte@bnd.com or 239-2522.
