In a game of runs, Lone Tree’s 12-1 fourth-quarter stretch proved to be the decisive one, resulting in a 48-37 win over rival Highland. 

“It feels really good,” said Kasey Chown, who finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals and four assists.

“We did well moving the ball and looking to get into the post. We just tried to slow everything down and take it over.”

Lone Tree led just 36-32 when Josie Mullinnix scored, starting the critical run. 

Maddie McCullough had a steal and 3-point play which was followed by a Maddie Jacque 3-pointer to put Lone Tree ahead 48-33.

“I’m just proud of our girls, we never quit fighting tonight,” Lone Tree coach Ryan Shelman said. “Obviously it got close there towards the end a couple of times and we just kept finding a way to kind of pull back away.”

Jacque led Lone Tree with 16 points. Mullinnix scored eight and finished with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. McCullough finished with five points, seven steals and five assists. 

Chown had Lone Tree’s only field goal of the first quarter as Lone Tree opened the game with a 7-0 run. Highland answered with an 8-0 run, followed by a 10-0 Lone Tree run. Highland would cut the lead to 19-15 by halftime. 

“We had a couple good runs,” Shelman said. “We switched up our defense a couple of times. And honestly, we defended and rebounded pretty good in those stretches, and that was able to kind of get us a little bit going on offense. We created points off of turnovers, which is big, something we’ve kind of been missing the last couple games.”

Dani Laughlin led the Huskies with 20 points and three assists. She also had four steals. Jenna Sands had six point and five steals. Abbi Stranksy had eight rebounds and Sarah Burton blocked three shots. 

“We have great spurts,” Highland assistant coach Michael Eden said. “There are times where we just look outstanding, but it’s trying to get this consistency with their mental preparedness. We have to work on that kind of stuff and practice and be ready for the game.”

Sands and Laughlin hit back-to-back shots to start the fourth quarter to pull the Huskies within four before Lone Tree pulled away.   

“We missed a lot of shots at the beginning, but I didn’t see anybody stop shooting which I was really proud of,” Highland assistant coach Cheyann Adamson said.

“(Against Mediapolis) some of our best shooters just wouldn’t shoot because they weren’t on, but tonight we just kept shooting and I thought that was really good, and the leaders really stepped up in that aspect.”