Girls Basketball: Thompson helps Triad surge past HHS

In an early season slugfest between Mississippi Valley Conference heavyweights,Triad senior sharpshooter Sophie Thompson helped deliver the knockout punch to lead the Knights to a 63-58 come-from-behind victory over archrival Highland Thursday night.

The Knights trailed by six points with just under six minutes to play in the game, but Thompson sparked a decisive flourish by scoring seven points in a span of 1:21.

She first hit a 3-pointer from the wing to pull her team within 48-45 with 5:39 to play.

Then after a Highland turnover, Thompson drilled a trifecta from the top of the arc while also being subsequently hit on the elbow and falling down. Thompson received a rare feat and treat with a potential 4-point-play opportunity. She calmly sank the throw to give her team the lead for good at 49-48 with 4:18 remaining.

“When I shot the 3, I knew it was going in. I was surprised she still hit me and when she did I fell, because that’s what you do,” said Thompson, who overcame first-half foul trouble to score 11 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. Her performance throughout the game was highlighted by going 5-for-7 from behind the arc.

“Sophie had a great game,” said Triad coach Josh Hunt, whose team stayed perfect in the MVC at 2-0 while improving to 4-1 overall. “She had some foul trouble early, but hit some big shots. To have the game she did with girls draped all over her all night and going against some good defenders says a lot about her as a player.”

Triad lived at the charity stripe in the last 3:18, where the Knights shot 16 free throws and converted 12 of them to hod the Lady Bulldogs at bay.

Highland coach Mike Arbuthnot said it was a good ballgame where both teams had stretches of playing well, but nobody could put anybody away.

“They made more plays down the stretch in the last three or four minutes than we did,” said Arbuthnot, whose team dropped its conference opener and slipped to 3-3 overall. Thompson kind of took the game over when she hit those big 3s. We have nothing to hang our head over. We played hard, they just did a little more at the end.”

Although Thompson earned the brightest spotlight, several other players on both teams turned in impressive performances.

Highland put three players in double figures, with senior Amanda Ponce, a Maryville University recruit, leading the way with 20 points. She drained 7-of-8 foul shots.

Also for the Lady Bulldogs, senior Caitlin Lammers netted a career-high 15 points and junior Alex LaPorta tossed in 12 points.

A trio of Triad players joined Thompson to make it four in double digits in scoring. Junior Hannah Johnson contributed 14 points (two 3-pointers), five assists and three steals, while senior Abby Burroughs Abby Burroughs added 11 points and six rebounds, and senior Sam Woods had 10 points and six boards.

“I am really proud of them,” said Triad coach Josh Hunt. “I guess you deal with adversity every game, but Triad-Highland, it’s unique, it’s different and the girls know it, both teams know it. But we just beat a really good team over there. Ponce is a ton, gosh dang she is a ton. (Madison) Wellen and LaPorta, and (Lammers) stepped up and hit shots. They are are a really good ball club so I am as proud as I can be of my girls. Obviously to lose Sophie for 10 minutes of the first half with three fouls was huge, and then we got down by as many as eight in the second half. But I am proud of the way we responded to adversity and they continue to do it. I mean they have grown up so much in the last few years and I think it’s a testament to these girls and the character that they have.”

Highland also got six points from junior Hayley Taylor, three points from junior Madison Wellen and two points from junior Abby Melosi, while junior Samantha Bassler had four points for Triad.

After Triad put up video game-like numbers with a 20-point first quarter to build a seven point advantage, Highland responded by outscoring Triad 19-8 in the second quarter to grab a 32-28 halftime edge.

The Lady Bulldogs had a 6-0 run to begin the second frame and a 10-2 stretch to close out the half.

Highland took its largest lead at 36-28 just 51 seconds into the second half and then built its lead back up to 46-39 late in the third quarter.

Then after missing both free throws, HHS junior Alex LaPorta quickly redeemed herlself by getting her own rebound and sticking it back in to give her team a 48-42 advantage with 5:56 to play.

But each time it looked as if the Lady Bulldogs were going to pull away, the Knights would answer back to stay within striking distance.

“I really like these kids and I think the world of this group. They have heart, they battle and I think they are really going to be something special when we get into January and February. We’re going through some times right now because we’re trying to find ourselves and we’re not where we want to be by any means, but they’re a special group of kids and they’re going to do some special things. Caitlin (Lammers) stepped up tonight and had a nice ballgame for us. Amanda (Ponce) played her heart out. Hayley (Taylor) got some big baskets for us.”

Up next for Highland is a home date with Jerseyville.

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Girls Basketball: Thompson helps Triad surge past HHS."