Highland edges Mater Dei in regional rematch

The Highland Lady Bulldogs came out locked in against Mater Dei on Friday.

Knocked out of the IHSA Class 3A regional by the Knights last February, Highland built an early five-point, first-quarter lead and then overcame a 34-29 deficit after three quarters to prevail 45-44.

Highland improved to 7-3, and Mater Dei fell to 6-3.

“It was ugly but we’re never going to complain about a win for sure,” Highland coach Clint Hamilton said.

After trailing by seven at the half, Mater Dei’s Claire Tonnies keyed a 9-4 third quarter run with a bucket that pushed the Knights to a 34-29 lead after three quarters. Toennies scored a game-high 26 points.

“Shannon Lampe is gonna take up a lot of the attention out there, and Claire really did a good job of hitting shots,” Mater Dei coach Dave Kohnen said. “The kids did a good ob of playing hard and that’s all I ask (of them).”

After going scoreless in the third quarter, the Lady Bulldogs responded in the fourth quarter as Bella LaPorta drilled four free throws in the final 1:14 and Ellie Brown hit two shots for a 45-42 lead. Mater Dei scored at the buzzer to complete the scoring.

“We really just had to get ourselves together mentally and get ready for the fourth quarter and we knew we had to come out and play if we wanted to win,” LaPorta said.

Kirsten Taylor paced Highland with 13 points and Brown added nine points. LaPorta finished with six points.

Next up

Highland is scheduled to resume action at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, against Normal Community at Civic Memorial. The Lady Bulldogs then face Riverview Gardens at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23, at Mascoutah.

Mater Dei, meanwhile, faces Cahokia at 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23, at Mascoutah.

This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 10:26 PM.