Lady Cougars Claim Home Tournament; Beat Kirksville 55-44
Lewistown, MO — The Highland Lady Cougars have reclaimed the Highland Tournament championship for the first time since 2012. The Lady Cougars faced the Kirksville Lady Tigers and claimed a 55-44 victory.
Kirksville got off to a quick start, with a 16-point first and holding the Cougars to only 9. However, the Cougars would punch back with a 16-point second quarter, but Kirksville would stay ahead, adding 12 points to enter the locker room 28-25.
The second half would see it all unravel for the Tigers, as the Cougars would overwhelm the Tigers with a zone defense and force steals to score 19 points. While also holding Kirksville to a low scoring quarter of 10. Even in the fourth, the Cougars did not let up, adding 11 and holding Kirksville to its lowest total of 6 points. The Cougars held on to the ball for the final minute and walked away with the win.
Head Coach Asthon Jaco discussed the victory. “It definitely feels good, and it was not easy.” She continues and discusses the matchup with Kirksville. “Kirksville is a good team; they are much improved from when we played them at the start of the year. I’m proud of our kids and their resiliency, and the adjustments they made.”
Junior Kierra Rothweiler finished the game with 14 points, leading the team in scoring along with two others who can score, as she discusses how speed has been a significant factor for this team. “It helps a lot, cause the speed helps our defense really well, stealing the ball from the other team. But Kirksville is really fast as well, so it was a pretty good matchup to have the speed to challenge us. But the steals that we got were because of how fast we were.”
The Highland Lady Cougars now shift their focus to next week, when they take on their cross-county rivals, the Canton Lady Tigers. That game will take place on January 13th at Highland High School.
