The Crusaders jump out of the locker room on fire tonight and take it right at the Birds in the first quarter. They ripped through the Birds press, found open cutters and finished at the rim! Neace protected the basket like Dikembe Mutombo in the the first quarter..swatting everything in the tri-state area! Crusaders looked really good and the Birds did not! Poor shooting and Neace's defense held the Birds in check and pushed St Henry to a 14-5 first quarter lead.

 

In the second quarter, the Birds start hitting a few shots and also realized Neace is really tall with really long arms and quit driving right into her. They locked down on defense and caught the Crusaders pretty quickly in the 2nd. Once the Birds took the lead, they didn't look back. Score at half was 28-22 Birds.

 

The Birds erupt in the third quarter and outscoring the Crusaders 22-11 (I think) to finish the quarter up 53-33.

 

The Birds went deep on the bench tonight for the majority of the game, but pulled the starters with about 6 minutes left in the game.

 

I really like Jordan Miller. Hard worker, good athlete and always moving. She also "digs in" on defense, which I love. She can finish at the rim and has a nice first step. St Henry plays hard and does not stop. Fun to watch them leave it on the floor.

 

Birds come out sluggish in the beginning, but definitely pick it up on both ends in the last three quarters. A slow start Thursday will not work, but I think the girls know that!

 

BRIANNA ADLER GETS 1000 POINTS TONIGHT ON A 3 POINTER IN THE THIRD! WAY TO GO B!!!!!

 

Good luck to the Crusaders the rest of the way! Way to go Birds!

Brianna's 15 points in the 3rd quarter was Game Over for St.Henry.

Highlands 61, St. Henry 42

 

Highlands (17-2) – Quillen 1 0 2, Adler 4 5 15, Barth 2 4 8, Coffey 1 0 2, Graves 4 0 10, Clukey 0 1 1, Leigh 6 1 16, Combs 2 2 7. Totals: 20 13 61.

 

St. Henry (11-9) – McGinnis 2 1 5, Benson 2 3 7, Miller 5 0 12, Potts 1 0 3, Neace 2 0 4, Noble 3 0 6, Darlington 1 0 2, Lehmkuhl 1 1 3. Totals: 17 5 42.

 

Halftime: Highlands 28-22. 3-pointers: H 8 (Leigh 3, Adler 2, Graves 2, Combs), S 3 (Miller 2, Potts).