Seniors leaders lift Highland girls to regional basketball championship over Mattoon
An early third-quarter run put the Highland girls’ basketball team in control against Mattoon Saturday. But, it was the senior leadership of Lauren Maas and Larissa Taylor that kept the Bulldogs’ 2024 postseason going for another round.
Maas knocked down three free throws and Taylor added a free throw in the final minute of play as No. 1 seeded Highland took down Mattoon, 43-34, to win the Class 3A regional championship at Baker Gymnasium at Charleston High School.
“We had a little struggle there midway through the game but we found a way to come out on top for sure,” Highland coach Clint Hamilton said.
Highland (23-10) which won its second consecutive regional title advances to face No. 2 seed Herrin in a Class 3A sectional semifinal on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Effingham High School in Effingham. Mattoon finished its season at 22-9.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first quarter as a Sophie Schroeder triple and a Jordan Bircher driving two kickstarted the quick surge.
Mattoon answered with a 12-6 run capped by an Ella Conyers three-ball to pull ahead 15-14 at the end of the first quarter.
“We got up 14-3 and we kind of let them get back in it and kind of lackadaisical defensively and they made some shots,” Hamilton said.
Highland reset with a strong man-to-man defense to start the quarter and unleashed a blistering 11-0 run bookended by 3-pointers from Jordan Bircher and Sophia Fleming to take a 25-15 lead with 4:42 left in the second quarter.
Highland carried a 28-15 lead into the break in large part thanks to its relentless defense holding the Green Wave scoreless in the second quarter.
“I kind of challenged them at the end of the quarter a little bit at the end of the (first) quarter and the second quarter they responded and played really, really well,” Hamilton said.
Highland kept control of the game flow in the third quarter as Taylor scored an inside bucket to make it 30-18 Taylor, the Bulldogs’ standout senior post was solid as usual despite battling fouls as she scored a team-high 10 points.
“She ended up leading us in scoring and she was dealing with foul trouble so it took away a little bit of her aggressiveness but she made a couple of free throws down the stretch and got a layup and scored when we needed her to,” Hamilton said.
Mattoon made a final charge in the closing moments as a Conyers basket and an Emily Maple free throw cut the lead to 39-34 with 1:29 to go.
That’s when Maas and Taylor stepped up from the foul line combining to hit four of six free throws in the last minute as the Bulldogs skated away their second straight regional title.
Hamilton praised the poise of his seniors down the stretch. “A couple of seniors stepping up and making free throws in the fourth quarter to kind of put the game away for us,” Hamilton said. “They’ve kind of been there and done that with last year’s team and they kind of know what takes and they step up and make plays when they need to.”
Bircher and Schroeder added 9 and 8 points respectively. Conyers led Mattoon with a game-high 14 points and Maple added 13 points.
This story was originally published February 17, 2024 at 5:49 PM.