Highlands varsity girls basketball bounces back from loss versus Ryle with a 3 game win streak

Jenna Richey

Freshmen Kaylee Mills, Katie Bucher, Saylor Macke, Sophomore Marissa Green, and Senior Alyssa Harris huddle up with their coaches before their third straight win.

The girls’ basketball team is in the midst of the season and is currently 11-5 this year, with 14 games left to play. 

Last year, through 16 games, the team was 5-11. This shows the improvements and adjustments the team has made to earn themselves a winning record.  

This year, the team is still fairly young, with only 1 senior and 2 juniors, along with 5 sophomores and 5 freshmen. 

With the team being so young, there were many mistakes that had been made last year. Although, the girls have learned from those mistakes and have applied what they learned to every game. 

A few of the improvements the girls focused on are getting the ball up the court in transition and taking advantage of fast break opportunities, along with getting the ball into the post players. 

“I think we have improved on looking into the post and getting the ball to Marissa [Green], but it is still something we could do more often,” says Freshman Kaylee Mills 

Though they have done this, the team also has other things they look to improve on before the year is over, such as making the extra pass for better shots, as well as talking on defense.

“We need to be unselfish and make that extra pass to our teammate for a better shot in transition and in the half-court set,” says Varsity Head Coach Jaime Richey.

The team has had other accomplishments like winning the Donna Murphy Showcase at Newport High School in December. 

With the season still going on, the team still has other achievements that they still would like to achieve. 

Freshman Katie Bucher reflects on some of the things the team hopes to execute before the end of the season. 

“Something this year that we want to accomplish is winning districts and making a good run in region,” says Bucher.  

Even though there are still many more games to go, the Varsity Girls’ basketball team has worked hard this season to get to the point where they are. 

“I think the girls are seeing skills that we asked them to work on in the off-season that has helped them this year as they are better at them,” says Richey. 

The team will face Newport Central Catholic at 7:30 at Newport Central Catholic, with the next home game being against Walton Verona at 7:30 on January 16th.