HOWARD — The East Knox High School girls basketball team took its defense seriously Monday night and it showed. The Bulldogs went into shut-down mode and the visiting Highland Scots were unable to get anything rolling as East Knox got the win, 49-39.
“I am very happy with the win,” said East Knox head coach Daryl Uhde. “Our effort was tremendous. I have scouted them and they are pretty good; they are very athletic. It’s a nice win. Everyone played pretty well tonight. Everyone did their job.”
The first quarter promised a much different game than the end result. Highland (5-4) jumped out early and looked as if they might make short work of the Bulldogs (3-5). The Scots frustrated East Knox early and forced the Bulldogs to take some ugly shots. In the meantime, they were building an advantage that grew into a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.
That was the highlight of the game for the Scots, however. In the second quarter, East Knox tightened its defense and quickly chipped away at the Scots’ lead.
With 1:46 left in the half, East Knox had knotted the game up at 18 and everyone was aware this was a whole new ballgame. Highland hit two sets of late free throws before the teams headed off for halftime, and held a slim 22-18 lead.
The Bulldogs got a huge first-half performance from point guard Megan Morris that kept them within striking distance. Morris scored eight of East Knox’s 18 first-half points on her way to a 14-point night.
“Megan is a warrior,” said Uhde. “She is pretty strong; she gets so many offensive rebounds. She really wants them. Her effort was very important for this win.”
The second half saw a vicious East Knox defense stifle Highland. The Bulldogs only allowed four points in the third quarter and did not allow a point until there was 1:20 left in the third.
“The only adjustment was our zone,” said Uhde. “It was very good tonight. Everyone was in the position they were supposed to be in. That was key to our win; we stopped the dribble penetration.”
East Knox was on fire from the field and got two big three-point baskets from Sierra Mazzaro to shift the momentum in favor of the Bulldogs.
“Our defense was big,” said Mazzaro. “We knew we had to work harder than we did in the first half. It was important for us to come back in the second half. We made some shots that got us excited and allowed us to play harder. We just wanted to win this game.”
“Sierra was on tonight,” Uhde said. “That’s her job; she is our shooter. She was hitting her free throws tonight and hit a couple of big 3s for us.”
East Knox continued to score while holding Highland from the basket. The Bulldogs started out the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run and sealed the victory at the free-throw line.
“We knew we had to make our free throws,” said Morris. “We scored 49 points with our free throws. If we hadn’t have made them, we would have ended up with 30 points and would not have gotten the win.
Although Highland started off hot, it couldn’t keep up with the Bulldogs over the long haul.
“We missed shots,” said Highland head coach Galen Chapman. “It was a little to do with their defense and us missing some open looks. We needed a bucket here or there and just couldn’t get one.”
Kristen Anderson led the Scots with a game-high 23 points, while Kayla Mason added five. East Knox was led by Mazzaro, who scored 18 points, while Morris added 14 points.
“This feels really good, we are starting to win some,” said Morris. “We are happy and are really getting along well.”
East Knox will look to take the momentum from this win into its game with its biggest rival, Danville, on Saturday.
“This program has struggled a little bit,” said Uhde. “This one is big. For this season, this is one of the wins we will look back on, we can say, ‘That was a good win.’”
Highland is back in action on Saturday, traveling to Buckeye Valley.
In junior varsity play, East Knox defeated Highland, 37-29. Jill Regal led the Bulldogs with 15 points and Josie Burwell added 12 points. Highland’s Tarren Thacker led the team with 11 points and Sam Zuber chipped in eight.
