Highland girls, boys come from behind & rally to clutch wins in Optimist Shootout

When the game is on the line, Highland girls basketball coach Clint Hamilton wants senior guard Grace Wilke with the ball in her hands.

And when Wilke gets the ball, good things usually follow for the Lady Bulldogs.

Wilke drove to the bucket with her left-hand dribble and dropped in a game-winning shot with 3.1 seconds left, lifting Highland to a 54-52 Mississippi Valley Conference victory in game one of the 31st annual Highland Optimist Scott Credit Union Shootout on Saturday, Jan. 7, at Highland High School.

“We had Grace with the ball on the handoff, and she’s really good going to her left hand, and it just kind of set up and worked out perfectly,” Hamilton said.

Highland (17-4 overall, 6-0 in the MVC) handled Waterloo in their first meeting, winning 60-54 on Nov. 28 but WHS had different ideas this go-round.

Senior forward Norah Gum’s 23 points powered Waterloo (11-6 overall, 3-3 in the MVC) to a seven point lead in the first quarter. Waterloo ultimately carried a 30-19 lead into halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs’ flat first half irritated Hamilton.

“Offensive rebounds killed us in the first half, “ Hamilton said. “Credit to Waterloo, they were playing hard — really hard — and the Gum girl got loose a couple of times, and she’s a handful.”

After a lackluster first half, Highland shifted the narrative the final 16 minutes.

“We got a lot more offensive rebounds in the second half and I think we definitely flipped the script from the first half to the second half,” Hamilton said.

Wilke, who scored a game-high 24 points and won game Most Valuable Player honors, drilled a three-ball to tie it at 52 with 9.4 seconds left.

Then with 3.4 seconds left, Larissa Taylor found Wilke on a backdoor cut to the basket.

“I was supposed to turn around and back door it to Jordan (Bircher), but it wasn’t open, so I just handed it off to Grace,” Taylor said.

Wilke took the ball, drove untouched to the basket, and scored the go-ahead bucket, giving the Lady Bulldogs the lead for good.

“He (coach) had the play drawn up for Larissa to hand the ball off to me, and as soon as she did, I knew it was gonna go in,” Wilke said.

Taylor came up big down low for HHS with 19 points and 20 rebounds. Sam Lindhorst had 17 points for Waterloo.

Highland boys rally past Quincy Notre Dame

Highland sophomore Braxdon Decker has been getting more trust of late from Bulldogs basketball coach Deryl Cunningham.

Decker, a sophomore guard, rewarded that trust big-time Saturday morning (Jan. 7) when it counted most. Decker flashed to the basket late, scored a backdoor layup off a superb feed from Cade Altadonna, and knocked down an and-one freethrow to convert a clutch three-point play, lifting Highland to an amazing 56-54 comeback victory over Quincy Notre Dame in game two of the shootout.

It was a special moment for Decker, who scored 12 points and was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.

“I had to make it (the shot) and didn’t want to do too much at the end and just be careful with the ball, “ Decker said. “That was a good pass ... he (Cade) was looking up for us, and it was a good pass, and he was looking for a team win.”

A Jake Ottensmeier three-ball gave the Bulldogs a 23-18 lead with a little over four minutes left in the first half, but a 10-1 run keyed by a pair of Alex Connoyer buckets pushed the Raiders to a 28-24 halftime edge. Connoyer led the Raiders with 17 points, hitting 8-of-12 shots.

Bulldogs fall behind 11 before rallying

The Raiders extended the lead to 37-27 on a conventional three-point play by Josh Bocke late in the third quarter.

Highland sophomore forward Grant Fleming, however, drilled a three-ball from the left side to cut the lead to 42-39 as the third quarter ended.

Down 11 points with just under four minutes left, HHS surged back. Altadonna knocked down a pair of foul shots to start the run, and an Ottensmeier three-point play and a baseline layup by Garin Stone tied it at 53-53 with 1:55 to go.

Highland (12-6) held the ball for a final shot in the final minute. That’s when Altadonna found Decker streaking to the basket and hit him with the perfect pass.

“I love having Braxdon Decker in that spot, and I knew he was gonna get it, and I found him and Braxdon really set that whole play up,” Altadonna said.

Final thoughts from Decker, Cunningham

Decker hit the go-ahead bucket and nailed the free-throw for the three-point play.

“Contact or not, I was gonna go up with it and get a foul and get free throws or make a layup,” Decker said.

At the final buzzer, Quincy Notre Dame’s Jake Hoyt threw up an off-balance three-ball that swished through the basket, but officials waved off the shot after they ruled the clock had run out.

All in all, Highland’s gritty come-from-behind performance against a tough Quincy Notre Dame club elated Cunningham.

“It took a little while (to come back), but to our guys’ credit, they didn’t give in, and I told them that says a lot about our character ... but our team, our coaches fought like crazy,” Cunningham said. “The difference (now) is the guys believe they can still win.”

Ottensmeier paced Highland with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting.

This story was originally published January 7, 2023 at 10:34 PM.