Highlands girls step on gas pedal in win vs. Freeport

By: Michael Love
Thursday, January 4, 2024 | 9:29 PM

The Highlands girls basketball team carried a lot of momentum from a pair of wins at its holiday tournament into a Section 1-4A matchup with Freeport on Thursday at Highlands High School.

The Golden Rams’ senior-laden lineup came out strong on both ends of the court and began to overwhelm the Yellowjackets from the early going.

Highlands led by 16 at the end of the first quarter and by 29 at the break and finished off a 53-26 victory.

“We were really excited and confident coming into the game wanting to build off the holiday tournament,” said junior Tyarah Woody, who had 11 points and nine rebounds.

“We were doing a really good job of sharing the ball, and we weren’t being selfish. Our press was really working well for us and giving them problems.”

The Golden Rams, who also topped North Hills and Mars by an average of 15.5 points last week, improved to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in section.

Highlands coach Shawn Bennis said his players are excited about a big week ahead with section games at Derry on Monday and at home against Greensburg Salem on Thursday before a road contest with Class 5A power Oakland Catholic a week from Saturday.

Freeport fell to 4-8, 1-3 in section play. It will try to bounce back Saturday at home against Riverview in nonsection action.

“We’ll take from today what we can as far as positives and work to be better for Saturday,” Yellowjackets coach Mallory Ketterer said.

“We’re seeing some steps forward, but we just have to be more consistent. In games where we’re in a deficit, we want the girls to concentrate on that one possession right in front of them, value it and work to make something good happen.”

Highlands mixed shooting from the inside and outside to race to a 9-0 lead. Senior Kalleigh Nerone had seven of her 10 points in the first quarter.

The Golden Rams connected on seven 3-pointers in the first 12 minutes of the game including four in a row to begin the second quarter as they extended their advantage to 33-5 with just over four minutes to play until halftime.

“Highlands came out hot and hit a ton of shots,” Ketterer said. “That can motivate a defense, so their full-court press was very effective. We had a ton of early turnovers, and we got in a hole. When they are shooting like that, it’s hard to get out of it.”

Freeport was limited to one shot on several possessions, and the Highlands pressure defense turned the Yellowjackets over seven times in the first quarter and 11 times in the first half overall.

“We can be a pressing team, and we came out and wanted to establish that to turn them over to get us some free opportunities,” Highlands coach Shawn Bennis said.

“Having those turnovers early, they weren’t able to set their defense like they wanted, and when they did set their defense, I thought we moved the ball well. Kalleigh and Kate (Myers), when they had the ball, weren’t looking to just create their own opportunities. They also were getting opportunities for their teammates. Every starter hit at least one 3-pointer. We made their defense work, and we had a lot of good looks and took some nice shots.”

In addition to Woody’s 11 and Nerone’s 10, senior Jocelyn Bielak scored a game-best 14, senior Shelby Wojcik just missed double-digits with nine and Myers collected a pair of field goals from long range for six points.

Freeport senior forward Brooke Kmetz came off the bench to score a team-best 10 points.

“I thought Brooke stepped up when she got in there,” Ketterer said. “She didn’t get a ton of minutes in our last game, but she came in tonight and did some really positive things for us.”

A layup from Bielak in the opening seconds of the second half set the 30-point mercy running clock in motion.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Freeport, Highlands