Details later.

Good win, congrats to Coach Richey and the Birds.

Okay...here goes!

 

Birds travel to Louisville last night (hence the next day report!) to take on perennial powerhouse Sacred Heart Academy. Not very many teams walk out of the SHA gym with a W, but the Birds found a way to pull it off last night in dominating fashion.

 

It was clear from early on, the seasoned talent of the Birds were going to compete. They were calm with the ball and picked SHA apart early from all over the court. Birds defense was stifling as well. (score was 43-18 at one point). The Birds played very well last night! With a minute and a half to go, Birds were up 22 when both teams emptied the benches. I usually try to find an "opportunity" for them to work on, but it was tough to find last night. When this team plays defense and rebounds, they are a tough out! You can look at the box score and see why they are a tough match up. Very balanced scoring! And one of their leading scorers (Combs) only had 6 last night. The team chemistry and unselfishness of this team is unreal! Hard to find.

 

As for SHA...all the tools are there. IMO, they are still finding themselves. But when they do, they will be very solid. SHA has some unbelievable young talent. Once the coaches find the right mix of youth and experience upperclassman, this team will compete. No doubt in my mind. HHS found some benefit in playing them early. Their outstanding freshman did look like freshman at times with the Birds defense, but they also showed how good they are at times as well. Again, once they find the right combination and the freshman gain a little more experience, look out. They are very skilled and well coached. Birds just a little too much in the early season for them. SHA also struggled through foul trouble most of the night as well. So that didn't help their cause either.

 

Shout out to "PASSTHEBALL". We met last night and solved all the bball world problems!!!! Great chatting with you!!!!

 

Highlands 59, Sacred Heart 45

 

Highlands (1-0)–Adler 2 7 12, Schultz 0 1 1, Barth 1 8 10, Coffey 1 5 7, Graves 4 0 10, Leigh 3 6 12, Reichert 0 1 1, Combs 3 0 6. Totals: 14 28 59.

 

Sacred Heart (0-1)–Johnson 2 4 9, Colley 2 0 5, Scott 1 1 3, Samsel 1 0 2, Sivils 1 0 2, Randal 1 2 4, Berger 4 2 11, Moir 1 0 3, Taylor 3 0 6. Totals: 16 9 45.

 

Halftime: Highlands 29-16. 3-pointers: H 3 (Graves 2, Adler); SH 4 (Moir, Berger, Colley, Johnson).

Congrats to HHS for a great road win. The balanced scoring is a testament to great team play. When you combine this win with the Bulldogs and Indians victories, 9th regions top 3 teams have started out strong. It's going to be a very competitive season in NKY..let's all enjoy the ride!

Highlands looked like a well oiled machine that jumped on Sacred Heart from the opening tip. SHA was on its' heels and played very tight throughout.

SHA's core players get into early foul trouble which made Coach Moir go to the bench early. She decided to play her upperclassman instead of the freshman early on relying on experience. It didn't go very well because the lady birds were quicker and faster getting easy baskets in transition and in their set offense. One of the more athletic freshman didn't even enter the game well into the 3rd quarter.

 

Highlands shot the ball extremely well for the game shooting almost 47% for the game with very balanced scoring. There was a huge match up problem with the Highland post players. They ate up our post players. SHA will have to make adjustments going forward.

 

This played out the way I feared because SHA played unsure of themselves. Tough match up right out of the gate, but they will learn from it and get much better. I believe the rotation will be completely different by the end of the year for the Valkyries.

 

Congratulations on the win and much success going forward. Now you guys can root for the Valkyries, so we make the win look even better for you!

Have not been able to see either teams play so far...Do either teams have any division 1 players? How did SHA freshman look? Could either team compete for State Championship?

Twenty eight made free throws. That's a lot of points from the stripe.