Bombs away! Kissell breaks 3-point record as WACO knocks out Highland

WAYLAND - The long balls were flying on Thursday night when the WACO girls basketball team hosted Highland in the Class 1A Region 5 opening round. The two teams combined for 16 3-pointers on the night as WACO survived Highland's upset bid, 56-50.

WACO's Ellah Kissell and Highland's Dani Laughlin put on a show. Kissell hit seven 3-pointers on the night, a new WACO record, and Laughlin nailed six, including five in the second half.

The two teams traded blows in the first half. Kissell scored 11 points in the first half, matching Highland's Abbi Stransky, who poured in 11 of her own, and WACO led 25-23 after one quarter and 25-23 at halftime.

WACO's Molly McLaughlin scored the first five points of the third quarter to give the Warriors a seven-point lead, but Highland wasn't done. The hot-shooting Huskies clawed back to cut the lead back to 35-33 after three quarters.

'Defensively, we've got to be aware of their shooters,” said WACO head coach Lisa Graber. 'They hit plenty of threes, too.”

Highland had the WACO advantage down to 36-35 after a deep 3-pointer by Laughlin, but Kissell came right back and hit back-to-back long balls to put the Warriors up 43-36, and the Huskies could never even the game back up.

Kissell's seven 3-pointers breaks a 2018 graduate Kiana Miller. She says she knew right when she moved up the leaderboard.

'After I hit that seventh one, I knew I broke the record, and it just felt so good,” Kissell said. 'It really shows with how much effort you put into something, the amazing things that come out of it.”

Garnsey scored 12 points on the night for the Warriors. Morgan Graber finished with eight. McLaughlin had seven. Grace Coble scored four, and Lela-Ann Fort scored one.

Highland's sophomore duo of Laughlin and Stransky combined for 36 points. Laughlin led the way with 20, and Stransky scored 16. Jenna Sands finished the night with five points. Kayla Cerny had three. Katelyn Waters, Mackenze Hora and Jessica Kraus all had two.

WACO (8-12) will head to Burlington to face Notre Dame in Tuesday's regional quarterfinals. Highland finished its season at 2-13.