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Highland took one of the top teams in the SWC to overtime Thursday but the extra period was all Richland Center.
The Hornets got the first basket of the four minute period of extra basketball and spread it out from there. Highland coach Josh Tarrell knew going against the Hornets would be a tough test but he felt his Cardinals had a good shot at a win. The Hornets were a late week replacement when the Cardinals chose to postpone a game with Shullsburg due to COVID concerns.
"This was a tough loss," Tarrell said about the first blemish of the season on Highland's record.
One thing that made it so was the fact the Cardinals had fought their way to a 10 point lead during the second half. But when the Hornets found some openings in the middle they put in their shots to come back to tie.
"They started to score and we started to miss our shots," Tarrell said about what led to Richland Center's getting back into the game.
The Cardinals went to a 1-3-1 defense to start the second half which flustered the Hornets until they figured it out.
"We then went soft on defense which hurt us," Tarrell said
The fact the Hornets had some length in their line-up was also a factor to their success attacking the basket, Tarrell felt.
The Cardinals had a good look at the last shot before overtime but it rattled off the rim.
"After they hit the first shot of the overtime it seemed to take the wind out of our sails," Tarrell said. "We just didn't react after that."
Tarrell said he was impressed with the play off the bench the Cardinals received from Jenna James. He also said Malayna Fredericks had the best game of her career with 10 points and good play overall.
"I was really proud of their efforts," Tarrell said.
Katelyn Esser led Highland with 17 points with Rachel Miller adding 14 and Fredericks finished the trifecta of double figure scoring with her 10.
Rachel Kaszupski led the Hornets with 13. Lexi Mieden and Paige Keller both added 12.
SCORE BY HALVES
RC 24 26 10 60
H 18 32 0 50
BOX SCORE
RICHLAND CENTER 60: (fg-ft-tp) Ruhland 1-2-4, Louis 2-3-7, Stibbe 1-4-6, Mieden 4-2-12, Kaszupski 5-1-13, Keller 5-2-12, Monson 2-2-6 Totals 20-16/26-60 Fouls-15
HIGHLAND 50: James 01-1, Drury 0-0, Mueller 0-0-0, Meg Tarrell 3-0-8, M. Fredericks 4-2-10, Esser 7-1-17, Miller 5-2-14 Totals 19-6/9-50 Fouls-19. Fouled out-Esser
3 point goals:
RC-Mieden 2, Kaszupski 2
H-Miller 2, Esser 2, Meg Tarrell 2