Lady Eagles Spoil Cougars Home Opener
Lewistown, MO – The Highland Lady Cougars dropped their home opener 42-38 to the Liberty Lady Eagles, despite a strong second-half rally that pushed the game to the wire. Highland started slow offensively, managing just 15 points in the first half and trailing for all but the opening quarter.
The Cougars found their rhythm after the break, posting 23 points in the second half to close the gap.
“I thought our toughness and effort were there, especially in the second half,” Head Coach Ashton Jaco said. “We gotta be better with that in the first half. But we battled hard, and we didn’t shoot the ball very well, but there were good things.”
One of those bright spots was junior Keera Rothweiler, who finished with 13 points and knocked down two key three-pointers in the third quarter to fuel Highland’s comeback push.
Jaco sees the early challenge as a building block.
“I think this was really good for us to expose some things that we obviously need to work hard on,” he said.
Highland won’t have much time to regroup before traveling to Hallsville on December 5th.
“We got a quick turnaround, and we got to go to Hallsville,” Jaco added. “So obviously, just try to go there and improve.”
The Highland Lady Cougars fall to 1-1 on the season as they head to Hallsville.
POINTS LEADERS
Highland Lady Cougars: 11 • 4 • 12 • 11
Kierra Rothweiler — 13
Addy Abell — 8
Chevie Sharpe — 7
Liberty Lady Eagles: 10 • 11 • 13 • 8
Weslee John — 12
Riley Fessler — 8
Leila Parkhill — 8
