By Giovanni Coronel
RIVERSIDE
Continuing their trend of knocking down the Arrows, it was another home conference win for the Huskies (6-1) as they collected a 66-48 victory over Wapello (1-6) on Dec. 17.
The Huskies have now won seven straight games over Wapello with the all-time series sitting at 24-10 in Highland’s favor. Wapello’s last win over Highland occurred in 2021.
“We had some balanced scoring and were able to get many people involved in some good game action,” Highland head coach Jody Fink said after the game. “We have a bunch of things to clean up on the defensive end. We are young and still learning and growing as individuals and as a team.”
Highland out scored the Arrows in all four quarters, never letting Wapello get on a significant run needed for a potential comeback.
A total of three Huskies reached double digits in the scoring department with those players being Hailey Brun (22), Kamryn Fink (16), Emersyn Schultz (11).
Brun made impact plays on both sides of the court, leading the team with five steals to go along with four assists and four rebounds. Fink continues to be a rebound magnet, leading the Huskies with 15 boards to end the night with a double double. Senior Katie Herrig dished out a team best seven assists and also grabbed seven rebounds.
WACO 64, Highland 59
Victory was at hand for the Huskies at home as they led by six with less than 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter, but two clutch three-pointers by WACO tied the score to send the game into overtime and the Warriors carried their momentum into OT where they completed the comeback over Highland.
“A tough game to swallow. We didn’t do what we needed to do to come away with the win.” Highland head coach Jody Fink said about the OT loss to WACO. “If you give up 31 offensive rebounds you are going to struggle to win a game. We need to take care of the little things so that they don’t snowball into larger issues.”
A competitive first half left Highland trailing by four entering the third quarter. Surging on offense and clamping down on defense in the third, the Huskies erased their deficit and took a 10-point lead heading into the fourth.
The Warriors scored 23-points in the fourth to tie the game and in overtime they out scored Highland 9-4 to earn their fourth conference win of the season.
“Everything is correctable and we will have time to work on that after a little break for the holidays,” coach Fink said. “It was a tough one, but hopefully there will be a silver lining at the end.”
The offense for Highland was led by Hailey Brun and Kamryn Fink who scored 17 and 15 points respectively. Fink also collected a team high 18 rebounds to end the night with a double double and nabbed a team high five steals.
After a break for the holidays, up next for Highland is staying at home for a conference battle against Pekin (3-3) on Jan. 3.
WAPELLO 48, HIGHLAND 66
Wapello 5 18 12 13 -- 48
Highland 13 22 14 18 -- 66
Highland leading scorers: Hailey Brun 22, Kamryn Fink 16, Emersyn Schultz 11
Wapello leading scorers: Kyndall Stigge 15, Macey Kuntz 12, Annaka Greiner 6
Highland leading rebounders: Fink 15, Katie Herrig 7, Mackenzie Davis 6
Wapello leading rebounders: Stigge 8, Kuntz 6, Rachel Hoeg 4
WACO 64, HIGHLAND 59
WACO 10 17 5 23 9 -- 64
Highland 11 12 19 13 4 -- 43
Highland leading scorers: Hailey Brun 17, Kamryn Fink 15, Katie Herrig 13
WACO leading scorers: Brenna Graber 25, Ella Huisenga 18, Carlee Lunsford 8
Highland leading rebounders: Fink 18, Katie Herrig 7, Mackenzie Davis 6