The Highland girls basketball team’s offense was like a faulty faucet Saturday night.
Cold and hot. Cold and hot.
Despite the uneven play, the Hawks’ scoring spurts were more than enough to offset the lulls as they cruised to a 52-31 victory in the Division I, Section II title game at Mesquite.
Highland missed its first nine shots from the field and had only two points in the first seven minutes, but scored 23 points in the next nine for a five-point halftime lead.
The Hawks (30-2) scored two points in the first five minutes of the second half as Hamilton crept within one, but turned it on again to cruise to the victory.
“It was dull minutes then a bunch of high-energy minutes,” guard Olivia Lucero said. “We probably need to be more consistent, but it happens a lot.”
Lucero had a game-high 18 points and Highland hit 8-of-15 shots from 3-point range.
The team defense was impressive in the second half as Hamilton was held to only 11 points and two field goals after intermission.
“Our bread and butter and our calling card is our defense,” coach Miner Webster said.
Highland should finish as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed for next week’s Division I state tournament and ended the power points season 21-0.
Hamilton (25-5) was No. 4 in power points and hopes to remain in the top-8 to secure a first-round playoff bye.
Melinda Myers gave Highland a lift off the bench with 11 points, including eight in the first half.
Huskies leading scorer Aliyah Dickson was held to seven points, while Kyndall Adams also had seven but fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.
Reach Kyle Odegard at (480) 898-6834 or kodegard@evtrib.com. Follow his blog at http://blogs.evtrib.com/varsityxtra, or find him on Twitter @Kyle_Odegard.
