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"We took a step backwards tonight," was the way Highland girls basketball coach Josh Tarrell summed up his teams 62-45 loss against Wauzeka-Steuben in non-conference play Tuesday night.
"We came out flat and never got into an offensive rhythm," he added. "Our defense didn't look good either. We gave up way too many offensive rebounds to them."
The Cardinals trailed 30-20 at halftime and only had made five baskets.
Wauzeka-Steuben's Molly Heisz hit 11 of her game-high 18 points in that first half.
Tatum Baures it 9 of her 13 in the second half with Kylie Zimmerman coming up with 7 of her 12 after intermission.
"We cut the lead to six, but then gave up a couple of easy baskets on offensive rebounds," Tarrell said. We were down a little tonight, but we'll keep on fighting."
Kylie Esser hit 11 of her 14 points in the second half to lead the Cardinal offense,
Bailee Rose added 11, with 8 coming in the second frame.
Tarrell said he felt Morgan Kosharek came off the bench and played well with Megan Wienkes gathering in several offensive boards.
The Cardinals resume play hosting Cassville Tuesday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
H  20 25-45
W-S 30 32-62
BOX SCORE
HIGHLAND 45 (fg, ft, tp) J. Kosharek 1-5/6-8, McCarthy 0-0-0, Rose 3-5/9-11, Wienkes 3-0/1-6, Esser 5-4/9-14, M. Kosharek 1-0-2, Drury 2-0/3-4. Totals 15-14/28-45. F-19. FO-M. Kosharek. 3-pointers: J. Kosharek 1.
WAUZEKA-STEUBEN 62: Zimmerman 5-1/2-12, Walters 0-0-0, Friar 1-3/6-5, Baures 4-4/6-13, Sander 1-0-2, Cooley 0-0-0, Heisz 7-3/10-18, McCullick 2-0-4, S. Sander 2-1/1-5, Groom 1-1/2-3. Totals 23-17/27-62. F-21. 3-pointers: Zimmerman 1, Baures 1, Heisz 1.