Pressure defense helps Highland girls get back on track with nonconference win

It was the perfect pick-me-up for the Highland girls basketball team.

Three days after ending the Highland Tournament on a down note against O’Fallon, the Bulldogs rebounded strongly on the hardwood.

Using its pressure defense, Highland jumped out to a 16-point first-quarter lead, led by 31 at halftime, and rolled to a 60-29 nonconference win over Hillsboro on Tuesday night at Highland High School.

“We played pretty well tonight and our defense really kind of pressured them early and got us going and got a lot of easy baskets for us in transition, so it was one to get a good jump on it and take this game and keep on rolling,” Highland coach Clint Hamilton said.

Larissa Taylor, Jordan Bircher, and Lauren Maas found buckets early as Highland’s intense pressure defense helped fuel an 18-3 first-quarter run that gave the Bulldogs command early in the contest.

Highland (18-9) led by 24 going into the second quarter and then outscored the Hilltoppers (11-14) 14-7 in the second quarter, taking a 44-13 lead into the break.

Highland continued to roll in the second half as Hillsboro never got any closer than 23 points the rest of the way.

Hamilton was glad to see his club rebound from the tournament an d head into the mid-season break on an up note.

“We didn’t have practice yesterday because of the weather, so you just never know what you’re gonna get with the kids having a couple of days off, so kudos to then for showing a lot of maturity and taking on the challenge we had from the beginning and executing the game with a prep day for it,” Hamilton said. “It was really nice to see that.

“With our tournament (the way it is) it’s nice to kind of relax and now we’ve got a week off and they can freshen up and get their legs back under them and hope we can get ready for a stretch run here,” Hamilton said.

Taylor, the Bulldogs’ senior post had a huge night with 20 points. Bircher added 16 points and Abby Schultz chipped in eight points.