Highland senior Kiara Comeaux attacks the rim. 

Despite taking a 24-16 lead into the halftime break, Highland’s playoff run was cut short by poor rebounding and an officiating crew that stifled every defensive press.

“It’s basically a tale of two halves,” said Highland Baptist head coach Carol Sensley. “I think that, underneath the basket, they just out-rebounded us. I thought they were more physical under the basket and I think that’s the difference in the ballgame.”

Following a scare in the first half of their second round contest against Westminster Christian, the Lady Bears started their quarterfinal contest with intensity, dropping 17 points in the first quarter to take a commanding lead over Hamilton.

Unfortunately for Highland, the Lady Warriors were able to find a weakness in the armor and exploit it, taking shots from deep and scoring repeatedly from rebounds at the glass.

“We were executing and we kind of went away from what we were doing,” Sensely said. “Some of that is youth. We’re playing with two seniors and a bunch of freshmen and a junior, so sometimes that happens. Credit to Hamilton, they did what they needed to do.”

Sensley said that the team discussed a way to limit how effective Hamilton’s McKenzie Duhon could be, but added that Hamilton’s tenacity caused her team trouble.

“We talked about our defensive rotations and being able to defend them and cover them,” she said. “I think we went away from that. We talked about how we were going to defend in the paint; we were going to kind of shade towards No. 4 (Duhon) and I thought we did that, but again, they were relentless on the boards.”

Despite struggling with rebounds all game, Highland seemed to suffer more from the watchful eyes of the officiating crew than they did from the play by Hamilton Christian.

“The difference in the ballgame is the freethrow situation,” Sensley said. “We’re an attacking team, they shoot 24 and we shoot five. Credit to them, they made their free throws. They were a little hungrier, but we tightened up towards the end.”

Senior Najah Johnson led the scoring for the Lady Bears, picking up 13 points and shooting ¾ from the line. M’Kiyiah Olivier (12 points, 100% FT), Yvette Olivier (11 points, three 3-pointers) and Kiara Comeaux (10 points) also contributed to the offensive performance.

For Sensley, the loss doesn’t define the season, which ended with a 20-9 record, including a nine-game undefeated run to end the regular season and clinch another District 7-1A championship.

“I’m proud of Kiara (Comeaux)and Najah (Johnson), we overcame a lot this season. I’m proud of the floor general, M’Kiyiah (Olivier), and I’m proud of my three babies Madison (Clark), Yvette (Olivier) and Logan (Boutte). They’re freshmen that had to step up and play some huge minutes and we still ended the season with 20 wins. There’s a lot to be proud of with this basketball team.”

Sensley said that her parting message to her team was to keep their heads held high.

“I have a group of amazing young women and I told them in the locker room that we’re not going to let one game define our entire year,” she said. “We gave it our all and I’m grateful and blessed to be here, coaching at Highland Baptist. This one hurts, but what I told these young ladies is that they have nothing to hang their heads about.”