Highland is now one win away from its first tourney title since 1987

Highland senior guard Madison Wellen scored 17 points, while Rece Portell and Hayley Taylor combined to add 20 points Thursday as the Bulldogs defeated the O’Fallon Panthers 59-44 in the semifinals of the Scott Credit Union Highland Tournament.

In search of its first title in its own event since 1987, Highland used a 10-0 run midway through the first half to take the lead. The Bulldogs then held O’Fallon scoreless for over five minutes in the fourth quarter to advance to Saturday’s title game.

“It’s a big win for us because we beat a very good and athletic O’Fallon team tonight,” Bulldogs coach Mike Arbuthnot said.

The win is the 10th in a row for the Bulldogs (18-3) and moved them into the title game Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Bulldogs, whose last title game appearance was in 2011, will take on either Teutopolis or Bellevillle West.

Belleville West will play Teutopolis in the other semifinal Friday. O’Fallon (14-6), which saw its five-game winning streak snapped, will take on the Teutopolis-West loser in the third-place game.

The Panthers, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, rallied to cut the deficit to 42-39 on a 3-point basket by Marta Durk and a jumper by Courtney Keller. Keller’s basket came in the opening 35 seconds of the fourth quarter, but O’Fallon would not score again for more than five minutes.

Key Sequence

Following a 15-foot, fourth-quarter jumper by Keller, Taylor, a 6-foot-1 forward, made a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs a six-point lead.

Freshman Ellie Brown and Taylor then made two free throws each, and when senior Alex LaPorta scored, Highland had a 51-39 advantage with just more than four minutes left.

“We gave ourselves a chance when we cut it to three points,” O’Fallon coach Ryan Massey said.

Key performers

Wellen led Highland with 17 points, while Portell added 11, nine of which came in the first half. Taylor chipped in nine points. O’Fallon received 14 points from Marta Durk and 11 from Courtney Keller.

Hillsboro 64, Salem 32

Sophomore Sammi Matoush scored 23 points as the Class 2A state power Hiltoppers rolled past the Wildcats and into the consolation title game. Denzelle Moore chipped in with 16 points for Hillsboro (19-4).

Nashville 49, Triad 28

The inside-outside duo of Paige Kasten and Karly Stanoski combined for 27 points as the Hornets (17-5) breezed into the consolation final with the win over the Knights. Kasten led all scorers with 15 points. Senior Hannah Johnson led Triad (11-10) with 11 points.

This story was originally published January 19, 2017 at 11:40 PM with the headline "Highland is now one win away from its first tourney title since 1987."