By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Friday was a big night for Highland Park girls basketball.
Not only was Hi Park celebrating its Winter Royalty coronation night, but the Scots also rolled to a 75-10 non-league victory at Topeka West while 13 different players got the opportunity to see considerable playing time.
Freshman Pearmella Carter scored 33 points in Friday's 75-10 non-league win over KC-Central. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Senior Angelique Gowan-Britt (3) scored 17 points in Friday's 75-10 Highland Park win over KC-Central. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"That's always a good thing for our young ones with our schedule and not having very many 'C' team games or JV games being able to get them in there it gives them experience in front of kind of our home crowd I guess, that's always a good thing,'' Highland Park coach Rob Brown said.
Leading the show for the Scots was 5-foot-10 freshman standout Pearmella Carter, who more than tripled the Eagles' team score by herself with a 33-point night.
"She's going to be a special one,'' Brown said. "She's still learning the game because she's still a 14-year-old girl, but she's learned how to handle the ball more and learning to shoot the ball and her confidence is through the roof.''
The Scots, who improved to 9-5, also got 17 points from senior Angelique Gowan-Britt while nine Highland Park players cracked the scoring column.
"Angelique's a natural point guard,'' Brown said. "She's a lock-down defender for us and she starts the defense for us.''
The game was decided after the Scots opened up an early 22-1 lead on the way to a 31-6 first-quarter advantage.
Highland Park went up by 40 with 3:25 left in the second stanza and by agreement by both schools a running clock was used late in the second quarter and throughout the second half.
The Scots outscored the Eagles 14-0 in the third quarter and 25-2 overall in the second half.
"We'll take 9-5 and keep plugging along and we're trying to fight for a good seeding for sub-state,'' Brown said. "That's the main goal.''
HIGHLAND PARK 75, KC-CENTRAL, MO. 10
KC-Central 6 2 0 2 -- 10
Highland Park 31 19 14 11 -- 75
KC-Central -- Harris 1 0-0 2, Todd 0 0-0 0, Runnells 0 1-2 1, Hall 3 1-1 7, Romero 0 0-0 0, Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Ross 0 0-0 0. Totals 4 2-3 10.
Highland Park (9-5) -- Gowan-Britt 6 5-6 17, Rice 2 0-0 4, Carter 15 3-5 33, Chandler 1 0-0 2, A. Austin 2 0-0 5, Paredes 0 0-2 0, S. Austin 1 0-2 2, Akins 2 1-2 5, Barnett 1 0-0 2, Jones 2 0-3 5, Cosey 0 0-0 0, Cullens 0 0-0 0, Cooper 0 0-0 0. Totals 32 9-20 75.
3-point goals -- Highland Park 8 (Jones, A. Austin). Total fouls -- KC-Central 14, Highland Park 9. Fouled out -- Runnells, Todd. Technical foul -- none.
