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Southwestern's girls basketball team was getting dangerously close to catching Highland in the second half after the Cardinals had turned a 17-15 halftime deficit into a nine point lead.
The Wildcats would not go away and got within three points when the Cardinals turned in some clutch free throw shooting to get the margin back to a safe distance.
Carlee Kosharek, Katelyn Mueller and Katelyn Esser all made the most of their charity stripe shots, making two each at the time to put the game back in Highland's favor.
"Those were big shots," said Highland coach Josh Tarrell about the free throws.
The first half was a measure of how much the Cardinals could hold off the frustration when the good looks they were getting refused to fall. The second half, though, was a different story.
"We didn't hit our shots early but we stayed with it," Tarrell said. "The girls did a good job of that."
So good, in fact, that Highland outscored the Wildcats 32-20 the second half to take the non-conference win against a team in their post season regional.
"We played a consistent defense the entire game," Tarrell said, adding that Meg Tarrell was especially effective with playing defense and directing traffic.
Tarrell was also pleased with the offensive balance with Katelyn Esser's 12 points and Meg Tarrell's nine that led the Highland scoring.
Madison Vosberg led the Wildcats with 15 points and Hannah Lucey added 12.
"I am very proud of the girls in how they kept fighting the entire game," said Tarrell. "We stayed with the game plan and did a good job."
The Cardinals are off until December 26 when they play in the Argyle tournament at 6 p.m. against Orangeville, IL. Warren, IL and Argyle play at 8 p.m. with consolation play December 27 at 6 and the championship at 8 p.m.
SCORE BY HALVES
Highland 15 32 47
Southwestern 17 20 37
BOX SCORE
HIGHLAND 47: (fg-ft-tp) Welsh 1-0-3, M. Mueller 1-2-4, K. Mueller 3-2-8, Tarrell 4-0-9, Esser 4-5 14, Kosharek 1-2-4, Miller 2-0-5 Totals 16-11/17-47. Fouls-14
SOUTHWESTERN 37: Vosberg 6-0-15, Droessler 0-0-0, L. Freiberger 0-0-0, Ramaker 1-0-2, Lacey 4-4-12, Reiff 0-0-0, C. Freiberger 0-1-1, Berning 2-1-5, Brant 1-0-2, Leibfried 0-0-0. Totals 14-6/10-37. Fouls-17
3 point goals:
H-Welsh 1, Tarrell 1, Esser 1, Miller 1
S-Vosberg 3