Defensive adjustment sparks Highland to win
After the first quarter of Highland Baptist’s girls basketball game vs. Hamilton Christian Tuesday night, the Lady Warriors held a 19-18 lead behind 12 points from guard McKenzie Deville.
HBCS coach Carol Sensley made a defensive adjustment, however, which sparked an 11-2 run en route to a 70-60 win for the Lady Bears.
“We picked up a halfcourt trap where we double-teamed the ball,” Sensley said. “We tried to turn up the intensity on No. 4 (Deville).
“It looked like she had gotten comfortable. She’s a really good player. She had gotten into a rhythm, so we tried to force things a bit. We wanted to force the tempo to be quicker and force her to take some quicker shots.”
Although Deville finished with a team-high 27 points, she scored only 5 points over the second and third quarters while the Lady Bears maintained a comfortable cushion.
“I’m proud of this team,” Sensley said. “We got a win. We’re building confidence. I saw some really good things. We had an inside presence. We had been wanting that and looking for that. Our rebounding went well. Our guards played smarter.”
M’Kiyiah Olivier pumped in a game-high 29 points for HBCS (3-2). Bri Sensley added 18 points and Kylee Johnson scored 11.
“M’Kiyiah and Bri were very solid,” Sensley said. “M’Kiyiah looked to score. She was smart with her shots. We talk about gaining confidence, and I thought she shot the ball well tonight. It was a good combination of penetration and perimeter shooting: inside and outside game.
“Bri was aggressive. She was our scorer like she’s been doing. She had some good passes inside. I’m proud of this team. We just have to keep building on it.”
The Lady Warriors (1-4) got 16 points from Riley Fontenot and 13 from Jillian Garrett.
HBCS, which finished as Division IV runner-up to Ouachita Christian last season, is learning to adjust without all-state post Marin Barras, who averaged 26 points, 15 rebounds, seven blocks, four assists and four steals per game.
“We miss her a lot,” Sensley said of Barras. “We are basically going through some growing pains while we try to establish our identity. We knew day-in and day-out that we could throw her the ball and she would make us look good.
“We have a couple of girls in the paint who are becoming established in Xaria August, Kylee Johnson and Najah Johnson. They were all on the team last year and played a lot of minutes.”
Eighth-grade guard Yvette Olivier is in the starting lineup after coming off the bench last year. Samantha Taylor is a soccer standout who joined the squad, and Maddison Clark is another eighth-grader who is getting quality minutes.
“It’s a roller coaster right now,” Sensley said. “We’re just working on getting better every day. Right now, we’re very inconsistent so we have to start developing. We’re athletic and quick. Again, we’re just trying to establish our identity with this team.”