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After a little WD-40 the Iowa-Grant girls basketball team shook off the rust and cruised to a 60-31 win over Highland in a home non-conference opener Monday.
The Panthers sputtered early as Highland romped to an 11-2 lead but then reversed that for a 10 point difference at the half, 28-18.
Morgan Kosharek and Kylie Esser had seven and six points to help the Cardinals to an early lead but then came the onslaught by the Liddicoat sisters.
Freshman Olivia Liddicoat, starting at the three spot, fired in 13 first half points with a pair of three pointers included. Her senior sister, Emma, followed up nicely with nine.
The duo kept it going in the second half and sent the Panthers to a 32-13 scoring difference. Olivia tossed in 15 points to finish with 28 points and Emma added 10 more of her own for 19.
Morgan Kosharek led Highland with 13 points and Esser added 11.
"After we got our bearings we started to do things," said Iowa-Grant coach Craig Jenkins. "We picked up the pace the second half and got done what we wanted to do on defense."
This was the first action of the season for Iowa-Grant. Highland had already picked up a win in their opener over Fennimore.
"After losing so many starters from last year we had some questions that needed answering," Jenkins continued. "We are rotating three freshmen along with our other players."
Olivia Liddicoat answered one of them with her solid game in her first varsity action.
"We are very happy with how aggressive she was going to the basket," Jenkins said.
As for the senior Liddicoat, Emma, Jenkins felt she had a solid performance.
"We know she will set up and score," he said.
Jenkins said the Panthers had some spacing issues early but corrected it the second half.
"We were getting too low on the blocks and were not able to finish. We were a step away much of the time," he said. "The second half we got it better and picked up some baskets in transition."
About Highland, Jenkins said the Cardinals play hard and Kylie Esser had a good game.
The Cardinals host Potosi next Monday in a non-conference match-up.
"We have not played them since I have been here," he said. "They are a solid team in a solid league. We will have our work cut out for us."
SCORE BY HALVES
Highland 18 13 31
Iowa-Grant 28 32 60
BOX SCORE
HIGHLAND 31: (fg-ft-tp)
Mo. Drury 0-0-0, Mueller 0-0-0. J. Kosharek 1-0-2, C. Kosharek 1-2-4, Esser 4-3-11, M. Kosharek 4-5-13, Ma. Drury 0-1-1 Totals 10-11/14-31. Fouls-13
IOWA-GRANT 60: Diver 0-0-0, Schroeder 2-0-5, O. Liddicoat 11-4-28, Harmening 2-0-4, T. Spurley 0-0-0. E. Liddicoat 9-1-19, Lundell 0-0-0, A. Spurley 0-0-0, Rider 0-0-0, Rule 2-0-4. Totals 26-5/15-60. Fouls-16
3 point goals:
IG-O. Liddicoat 2, Schroeder 1