Birds pretty much in control of this one from the opening tip. Birds jump way up on the hot shooting of Lydia Graves. She was absolutely on fire with 18 in the first half. St Henry made a couple small runs and got it to 15 a couple times, but the game was never in jeopardy. St Henry did play much better in the second half, running the offense through Neace...who by the way has become a really nice player!

 

The rest of the scoring was very balanced for the Birds. Several players with 7-9 points. Overall a pretty good game for the Birds.

Basketball, Girls:

Highlands 59, St. Henry 39:

The Bluebirds moved to 18-5 overall and 12-2 in 9th Region play with a sound win Saturday over the improved Lady Crusaders (15-8) under the guidance of first-year Head Coach Paul Sturgeon. St. Henry finished 14-16 last year.

Highlands won its third straight by scoring 1.03 points per possession to .75 for the visitors. The Bluebirds made 19-of-43 shots for 44 percent, including 7-of-23 from three-point range for 30 percent and 14-of-16 free throws for 88 percent.

St. Henry made just 17-of-38 shots for 44 percent and missed both three-point tries. The Lady Crusaders also made just 5-of-12 free throws for 42 percent.

Turnovers also made a huge difference in the game. Highlands had just 11 turnovers and 15 steals to 20 turnovers and six steals for the visitors. Brianna Adler and Zoie Barth led Highlands with three thefts each. Adler made all six free-throw attempts.

Highlands saw two players reach double-digits in Lydia Graves with 18 and Alex Combs with 10. Graves made 4-of-7 three-point attempts and Combs made 5-of-10 shots.

McKenzie Leigh had another good game rebounding the basketball. She finished with seven to lead Highlands and added seven assists.

St. Henry saw two players reach double-figures. Savannah Neace led the way with 14 points and Trisha Marks followed with 12. The duo also combined for eight rebounds each.

Highlands travels to Alexandria to face Bishop Brossart. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

 

Fort Thomas Sports: Highlands squads, NC girls earn 9th Region victories