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Amber Yager, a 5'9" senior from Highland - proved to be the Cardinals' "go-to" player down the stretch and she carried her team to a road win Friday when the Cardinals defeated Pecatonica 50-47 in Blanchardville in a non-conference crossover game between schools from the two different Six River Conference divisions.
Yager scored 13 of her team-high 19 points in the second half.
Pecatonica led 35-34 mid way through the third quarter, after Lizzy Britt had nailed a 17 footer - and her hoop was followed by a scoop shot in the lane by her Viking teammate, Emma Marion.
But - Yager scored 8 of Highland's 10 points in a late third quarter flurry to give coach Josh Tarrell's Cards a 36-35 lead entering the final quarter.
Yager nailed a trey with 3:50 remaining in the fourth period to give Highland a 46-40 lead and Tarrell's club held onto their advantage - though Marion scored on a lay-up for Pec with 1:06 to go and Maddie Fischer's rebound "put-back" basket with 15 seconds to go, pulled Pec within one point.
Highland sophomore Leigh Drury nailed a pair of free throws with 8 seconds to go for a 50-47 lead and Michelle Francois' shot at the buzzer came close to tying the score but wouldn't go down for the winless Vikings.
"Pecatonica played harder than we did in that first half - they came out and played well," said Tarrell. "We talked tonight about how whoever worked harder - was going to win the game and fortunately for us, we came around and stepped up late. We lost five solid seniors from last year's team - and tonight it was Amber (Yager) who got hot - and we were able to squeak this one out," added Tarrell.
Asked about his return to coaching high school basketball - Tarrell, the Highland School District Principal, said it was strange to be back in the gym and school where he had coached -several years ago, but to now be occupying the visitors' locker room.
"It feels great to be back coaching. I guess it's in my blood but after three years out of it, I'm just trying to work off the rust."
Tarrell was a former head boys basketball coach for a championship team at Highland, - then, later, was a Vocational Agriculture and girls' hoops coach at Pecatonica - before departing to take a teaching post at Riverdale High School in Muscoda.
After receiving his graduate degree, enabling him to be a Principal - he has now stepped into the Principal's role at his native Highland and with the encouragement of Highland's part-time superintendent, Dave Romstad, Tarrell also returned to coaching.
Pec first year hoops coach Matt Bakkum also weighed in on the game following its conclusion.
Bakkum said he was pleased with the way his ball club matched up with the visiting Cardinals, but wished the outcome could have been different in a type of game that could have gone either way.
"We got a a good shot off there in the closing seconds, but it didn't fall. And for Highland, it was Yager who stepped up big tonight. She buried us - and she played a heck of a game for them - on a night where I felt these were two evenly matched teams in a game that went down to the wire."
"We gotta work better together - we must work harder as a team and we must find more offense - from additional players. It's important that we get more consistent scoring across the board. We can't just rely on one or two players - because opponents will key on those players. We must have a third and fourth scorer - much like Highland did tonight," added Bakkum. "We're improving though. We were better tonight that we were in the opener against Edgerton. We can't go basket for basket with teams - and must just keep on working. We want to go to the line more - be more aggressive in the dribble drive - draw contact - get to the body - get to the foul line for some points - that's what we want to keep working on - and not shying away from contact as we seemed to do tonight (Pec attempted just 6 free throws in the entire 32 minute game)."
Bakkum - and Pec assistant Cassie Paulsen return home to their native Spring Green tonight (Thursday, Dec. 8) when they lead the Vikings to battle versus the River Valley Blackhawks at 7:30 p.m. and the Vikings also play Tuesday night, Dec 13 at Monticello.
Highland 50 Pecatonica 47
Highland 12 9 15 14
Pecatonica15 12 8 12
Highland (fg-ft-tp) Leigh Drury 4-6-16, Taylor Wienkes 6-1-13, Brenna Bomkamp 1-0-2, Amber Yager 7-3-19. Three-pointers: Yager 2, Drury 2. Totals 18 10-15 50.
Pecatonica (fg-ft-tp) Maddie Fischer 2-0-4, Michelle Francois 5-0-13, Emily Fargo 4-2-10, Emma Marion 5-0-10, Alexandra Ihm 0-1-1, Lizzy Britt 4-1-9. Three-pointers Francois 3. Totals 20 4-6 47.