Highland girls begin season with a win

KEOTA ? The Highland and Keota girls? basketball teams kicked off their season against each other Friday evening.

Highland outscored Keota in the first quarter 24 to 3. In the second quarter, it was 20 to 4 Highland on top. In the third and fourth quarters Keota was scoreless and Highland scored 11 more points.

The ending score was 55 to 7, with Highland on top.

Highland sophomore Aly Stokes dominated the scoreboard that evening. She scored 19 points, had four steals, three blocks, four defensive rebounds and three offensive rebounds.

Following Stokes in points were senior Kelsey Hora and junior Brylee Carolan with 11 points each.

Hora also showed promise with her defensive and offensive skills. She had four defensive rebounds and one offensive rebound. She also had six assists, two steals and blocked one shot.

Junior Murphy Beinhart followed Hora and Stokes by scoring six points. She led the team with seven steals, had four assists and one defensive rebound.

Highland head coach Jody Fink said this was a good start to the season.

?I was happy with the effort the girls [made] but we still have a long way to go this season,? Fink said.

The girls need to improve their shooting, he added.

?We need to put the easy buckets in the hoop and control the boards better,? Fink said. ?We didn?t do very well at the objectives.?

Highland?s next game will be at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 22 against New London at Highland High School.

Statistics from Keota weren?t available before press time. Keota?s next game will be at 6 p.m., Nov. 29, against Belle Plaine at home.