Fillies win section opener
Laurel Highlands opened Section 2-AAAA play with a bang as it hosted and defeated Trinity, 64-45, Monday night. The Fillies used a strong second half and excellent foul shooting, converting 23 of 28 free throws, to pull away from the Hillers, who tied the score at 19 late in the first half.
Laurel Highlands opened the game with a 9-2 run before ending the quarter ahead 19-9. The Fillies were in total control and seemed to have the Lady Hillers’ number early. Lauren Mahoney and Hallie Cupp led the Fillies with six and five points, respectively.
The Lady Hillers walked to the bench after the end of the first quarter and one of the players screamed “Keep your heads up and play ball” and that’s what they did in the second quarter. The quarter started out with a 10-0 run in favor of Trinity to tie the game at 19 after a Chalise Popeck jump shot.
Mahoney, who had a game-high 18 points, hit two free throws to finally put the Fillies on the board with 2:27 left in the quarter to give them the lead again at 21-19.
Lindsay Whipkey tied the game at 21 for the Lady Hillers at 1:07 and Cupp, who scored 11 on the night, scored the final two points of the half on an offensive rebound to give the Fillies a 23-21 lead and their first bucket from the field the entire quarter.
For the Lady Hillers, Megan Chicone and Popeck each contributed six for the half. Chicone hit two of her three three-pointer and finished with 11.
“We went flat,” said Fillies coach Rick Hauger. “We hadn’t played in a week and I thought we’d come out flat to start the game. We had opportunities and couldn’t put the ball in the bucket.”
Two things that helped the Fillies in the first half as well as the entire game were their free throw shooting and pressure defense. The Fillies hit 7 of 7 four shots in the first half.
“We work on our foul shooting,” noted Hauger. “Hopefully we can continue to take advantage of the free opportunities.”
“We need steals and free throws with our size. We have good athletes and kids that want to play just not tall kids.”
The bad second quarter didn’t discourage the Fillies in the second half as they came out and outscored the Lady Hillers 17-9 in the third to give them a 40-30 lead after three periods of play. Five of the Fillies’ 19 points came from foul shots with Deena Blanc contributing three of her 14 points on the night. She ended the night hitting 8 of 9 from the charity stripe and was the leader defensively for the Fillies.
“We had moments our press was effective and Deena spearheads the pressure,” said Hauger. “She’s our spark and catalyst.”
The Fillies continued the scoring onslaught as they put up 24 in the fourth with 11 coming from free throws.
“We were tired. We played three of the last four days,” commented Lady Hiller coach Jim Webb. “We lost our legs in the second half.”
“Laurel Highlands did a great job tonight. They are a well-coached team.”