By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Highland Park's girls basketball team let Junction City back in Friday night's Centennial League game after building a 13-point lead.
But unlike an earlier game against the Blue Jays when the Scots dropped a two-point decision, Highland Park did what it needed to down the stretch, taking a 45-37 home win over Junction City to pick up its first league victory.
Highland Park, which improved to 3-15 overall and 1-13 in the league, opened up a 13-point advantage twice in the third quarter and led 34-23 at the start of the fourth, but had to withstand a fourth-quarter rally from the Blue Jays to hang on for the win.
"We've been working on trying to play with a lead, finish the game the right way and finish quarters,'' Highland Park coach Rob Brown said. "We've been working on a lot of the delay game stuff and I think it went well for us.
"It helped us out to finish the quarters right. I challenged the girls to get a couple of single-digit quarters (by the opponent) and they gave me two of them. It is a step.''
Highland Park's girls gave first-year coach Rob Brown his first Centennial League victory Friday night, a 45-37 home decision over Junction City. [File photo/TSN]
Freshman Amelia Ramsey connected on five fourth-quarter free throws as Highland Park held on for a 45-37 win over Junction City Friday night. [File photo/TSN]
Highland Park got 16 points from senior Aisya Taylor and 13 from senior Atiya Gonzales while freshman Amelia Ramsey added 10.
Highland Park jumped out to an 11-2 first-quarter advantage and led by nine early in the second before Junction City battled back to get within three twice.
The Scots ended the half with buckets from Gonzales and freshman De'Asia Sanders to build a 23-16 halftime advantage.
After falling behind by 13 Junction City (2-16, 2-13) rallied to get within four points twice, the final time at 41-37 with 49.4 seconds remaining, but Taylor added one free throw and Ramsey three to give the Scots their final margin.
Taylor scored eight first-quarter points and 13 in the first half while Ramsey scored seven of her 10 points in the second half and hit five free throws in the fourth quarter. Ramsey and Taylor both grabbed seven rebounds.
"Early on Aisya stepped up big for us to get us going and then Amelia finished it off for us,'' Brown said.
Gonzales hit a pair of 3-pointers on the night and connected on three free throws over the final 2:57.
Junction City sophomore Sara Rexrode led the Blue Jays with 14 points while junior Ava Guzman grabbed 10 rebounds.
Highland Park will be back at home Tuesday to host Topeka West in a Centennial Legue contest.
HIGHLAND PARK GIRLS 45, JUNCTION CITY 37
Junction City 2 14 7 14 -- 37
Highland Park 11 12 11 11-- 45
Junction City (2-16, 2-13) -- DeGuzman 1-6 0-0 2, Nabus 2-5 1-2 5, Harris 0-2 4-4 4, Holloway 1-2 2-4 4, Rexrode 5-13 4-8 14, Hatcher 2-10 0-0 6, Cebula 0-1 0-0 0, Exantus 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 12-40 11-18 37.
Highland Park (3-15, 1-13) -- Gonzales 4-9 3-5 13, Reed 0-4 0-0 0, Nunez 0-3 0-0 0, Taylor 7-20 1-3 16, Ramsey 1-3 8-11 10, Parker-Brown 0-0 0-0 0, White 0-0 0-0 0, Sanders 3-6 0-2 6. Totals 15-45 12-19 45.
3-point goals -- Junction City 2 (Hatcher 2), Highland Park 3 (Gonzales2, Taylor). Total fouls -- Junction City 19, Highland Park 14. Fouled out – Rexrode, Harris.
