Lions out to hot start

Lone Tree beats Highland for second time this season

Posted 12/4/19

Three days after dispatching Highland at their own tournament, Lone Tree won their second game against the Huskies this season with a 56-37 win at home.

Lone Tree relied on a similar game plan …

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Lions out to hot start

Lone Tree beats Highland for second time this season

Posted

Three days after dispatching Highland at their own tournament, Lone Tree won their second game against the Huskies this season with a 56-37 win at home.

Lone Tree relied on a similar game plan to get a win against Highland, forcing turnovers and using drives to the bucket to pierce the Highland defense. Holley Johnson led the team with 20 points.

Lone Tree coach Ryan Shelman said during the first half that the team was doing the right things, but the shots just weren’t falling. They held a 23-18 lead at the break and turned that five-point lead into 17 by the end of the game.

He said he likes the improvement he is seeing from his team every day, but there is still a lot to get better at as the season progresses.

Highland coach Jody Fink aired some frustrations about his team’s ball security.

“We can’t compete let alone win games turning the ball over 30-40 times in a game. We shot ourselves in the foot so often,” Fink said.

The Huskies did a nice job of getting to the free throw line, outpacing Lone Tree 27-8 in free-throw attempts but only went 13-17 on those attempts.

Alyssa Brase was the leading scorer for Highland with 15 points on 5-10 shooting and 5-14 on free throws. Brase finished with a double-double, collecting 11 rebounds in the game.

Kayla Cerny also had a double-double for the Huskies with 10 points and 12 rebounds to go along with two steals and two assists.

The Huskies struggled from the floor, shooting 12-46 and 0-3 from 3-point range.

“It is a learning point for everyone and we all have to look at ourselves and dig deeper than we ever have,” Fink said. “It’s going to get tougher and we can either be a turtle and hide in our shell or come out fighting and give it everything we have no matter what the outcome ends up being.”

Since the first game was part of Highland’s home tournament, it didn’t count toward the conference standings. The win moves Lone Tree to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in SEISC North play while Highland is 1-2 and 0-1 in conference play.

Lone Tree played Hillcrest Academy on Tuesday and has a conference bye on Friday. They will suit up on Tuesday for the first of four straight road games at Louisa-Muscatine.

Highland played Louisa-Muscatine on Tuesday and has a crossover with Holy Trinity Catholic on Thursday.