Highland uses relentless defense, balanced offense to topple Triad in MVC contest

Highland girls basketball coach Clint Hamilton incessantly preaches being strong defensively each game. And 26 games into the 2019-20 season, the Lady Bulldogs are becoming a defensive nightmare for opposing teams to deal with.

On Thursday, Jan. 30, at Highland High School, Mississippi Valley Conference archrival Triad became the latest victim to wilt under the Lady Bulldogs relentless pressure defense.

Highland, fueled by its frenetic man to man press jumped out to a 19-4 lead by the end of the first quarter, ballooned the lead to 38-9 at the half and ultimately coasted to a 59-34 MVC victory. Highland improved to 5-2 in the MVC.

“Defense was the big key,” Highland coach Clint Hamilton said. “We jumped up pretty early (on them) and it was 19-4 at the end of the first quarter as we got a lot of ball pressure and turned them (Triad) over with our defense and got a lot of easy layups and we made a couple of 3-point shots. Once you get the ball going in, you play a little bit harder and defensively we did a great job in the first half of setting the tempo.”

The offense was just as strong for the Lady Bulldogs, as they had three players score in double figures. Bella LaPorta scored 14 points, Megan Kronk scored 12 points, and Taylor Kesner had a big night off the bench, pumping in 10 points.

“Tonight Taylor Kesner came off the bench and had 10 points and we had nine kids score tonight and we got a lot of scoring up and down the lineup,” Hamilton said. “You send them in and you hope not to lose much (with kids) coming in off the bench and tonight we definitely didn’t do that.”

A 15-point third quarter helped HHS build a commanding 53-19 lead, which allowed Hamilton to freely play reserves in the fourth quarter.

“They had a great showing tonight defensively and you get a couple of easy transition buckets that get you kind of rolling and we played pretty well there tonight,” Hamilton said.

Triad (10-15, 3-4) was led by Alyssa Powell with 11 points and Sydney Hartoin with nine points.

Highland defeats Collinsville

The Lady Bulldogs followed up the Triad contest by disposing of Collinsville 67-48 on Saturday, Feb. 1.

HHS led 47-24 at halftime and cruised to the win. Kronk notched 19 points, Kirsten Taylor had 18 points and Kesner posted 11 points. The win was the Lady Bulldogs sixth-straight, as they improved to 21-6 overall and stayed hot as the postseason approaches.

“It’s a great time (for us) to start playing well, no doubt ... it’s a good time to get everything clicking and everybody on the right path,” Hamilton said following the Triad win.

This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 4:13 PM.