Huskies roll past Keota

After an emotional win on Friday night, Highland head coach Jody Fink said he wanted to see more intensity out of his team on Monday night.

Coming off a 14-point upset over Mediapolis on the road, Highland girls? basketball started Monday night?s game against Keota off slowly, only scoring nine points through the first five minutes of the game.

After that, it was all Highland, as they cruised to a 64-18 victory.

?We dropped our intensity level,? Fink said. ?We came out real slow and I had to call a timeout early in the game. We had to adjust some things and we tried out some different presses and defense, but we started pushing the ball and got girls involved.?

The victory improves Highland to 7-1 on the year, with their lone loss of the season coming at home to Pekin.

Helping the Huskies to the win was freshman Aly Stokes, who has made a regular contribution to the stat sheet in her first season of varsity experience.

The freshman is averaging 9.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game this season. Stokes has made an impact in each sport she?s participated in in her young Highland career, and credits her teammates for helping her.

?It?s a little different, but not really,? Stokes said. ?The girls, I?ve played with all of them, and I know them as my teammates.?

Stokes scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds in the contest for the Huskies, building off her 13-point, 15-rebound effort in the victory over Mediapolis.

?I think it takes patience as a coach (with young players),? Fink said. ?They have to be able to see what is going on. The game moves faster in high school than in junior high, and she?s handled the ball a lot coming through the years. To have her down low rebounding, we can send our guards. The pressure isn?t on her to have to do it.?

Highland will look to continue its winning ways in a game against Columbus on Tuesday night.