Huskies run past Falcons

In playoff basketball, the mantra is survive and advance.

Despite winning on Tuesday night by more than 20 points, the feeling from head coach Jody Fink was more of relief than satisfaction, as the Highland girls? basketball team picked up a 60-37 victory in the regional quarterfinals against West Burlington.

?It?s a big relief with a young team,? Fink said. ?The seniors were nervous because they feel they have to lead the underclassmen, and the younger girls don?t want to let down the seniors. It?s great for the younger kids, because it is one and done, but it?s also just another basketball game.?

A slow start kept West Burlington in the game for the first half, but after halftime, the Huskies outscored the Falcons by 13 points.

?It got our jitters out,? Highland senior Brianna Davis said. ?When we first came out, everyone was everywhere. Once we started playing we started to get it going again.?

Highland was led by junior Kelsey Hora?s 18 points in the contest, joined by freshman Aly Stokes? 17 points and senior Cheyann Adamson?s 11 points.

Highland and West Burlington traded the ball often in the first quarter, with a slew of turnovers leading to a low-scoring 12-7 Huskie lead after the first quarter.

Highland used a 9-0 run that stretched into the second quarter to take a 17-7 lead, but they couldn?t keep the momentum up, as West Burlington kept pace with them the rest of the half.

?We were definitely rushing it a lot in the beginning, not realizing we needed to get control of the game,? Hora said. ?We were letting them control the speed of the game. Once we got control it was easier.?

Highland seemed to shake the rust of not playing for 10 days off, in the second half, as they slowly extended their lead through the entire second half, eventually claiming the playoff win.

?That?s one thing I was very afraid of, having 10 days off,? Fink said. ?We had some intrasquad scrimmages, but it?s not the same as someone else. Being tournament time, the girls were very excited and that got us. We put pressure on ourselves instead of letting the game come to us.?

With the victory, Highland advances to the regional semifinal to face Class 2A, No. 4 ranked Pekin.

In two contests with the Panthers this season, the Huskies fell by an average of 29.5 points in both games, most recently falling on Jan. 22 at Pekin by 28 points.

Having seen Pekin twice, Fink knows what will be important against a high-quality team like the Panthers.

?Playing four full quarters,? Fink said. ?They?ve done a good job of that, and we need to control tempo with them. (Beth) Atwood probably runs rim to rim better than anyone I?ve seen in southeast Iowa. We have to get back and get in front of her. If we put four full quarters together, that?ll give us a chance. As a coach, in a close ballgame, if we have a shot, we want to be taking that shot. They are a quality, tough opponent and we?ll give them everything we have.?

Highland and Pekin will clash at 7 p.m. on Friday night in Packwood.