By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
ARCADIA – Defense ruled the night for Hamilton Heights on Tuesday.
The Class 3A No. 5 Huskies hosted county opponent Guerin Catholic, and put together their best defensive performance of the season in winning 43-22. Heights held a halftime lead after a close first half, then pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring the Golden Eagles 16-2.
“Tonight was a little bit concerning, because Guerin Catholic always plays hard,” said Huskies coach Keegan Cherry. “And having watched them in prep, Coach (Danielle) Cardinal does a good job with those girls. They were obviously much bigger and stronger than we were, so we had to be great in our technique, recognize personnel, and I think for the most part, early we lost a couple of their players, but overall, I thought we did a pretty good job.”
The first period finished with the Huskies ahead 8-5. Kaylee Rhoton hit two 3-pointers for Heights, while Kori Dues made a triple for Guerin Catholic.
Hamilton Heights’ Camryn Runner (left) guards Guerin Catholic’s Sutton Worman after she gets a rebound. (Reporter photo by Richie Hall)
Annie Murphy got the Golden Eagles within 9-8 early in the second period with a 3, but the Huskies used a 7-0 run to take control. Brown nailed a 3, then Camryn Runner made back-to-back layins for her first points of the game. Two more Runner free throws gave Heights an 18-12 lead at the break.
Brown opened the third quarter with a triple, which GC’s Megan Cobb answered with a layin. It was all Huskies after that, as they scored 13 consecutive points for a 34-14 lead by the end of the period. Brown hit another 3, while Runner got a buzzer-beating triple to put Heights up 20.
“I thought we did a nice job defensively, especially in the third quarter,” said Cherry.
The Golden Eagles opened the fourth with a 6-0 run, as Ava Bills and Natalie Fernandez both made traditional three-point plays. The Huskies finished the game on an 8-0 run, with Rhoton hitting a 3.
Both Brown and Rhoton finished with three 3s each. Runner scored 17 points, while Brown had 10 points.
“As she gains confidence, she’s just going to continue to shoot it that much better,” said Cherry.
Fernandez led Guerin Catholic with seven points, and seven different Golden Eagles players scored at least two points.
“We didn’t play with enough energy,” said Cardinal. She said the team is normally a “really focused, smart, energetic team and I just don’t think we showed that tonight.”
The Huskies are 5-1 and go back on the road to play at Lebanon. The Golden Eagles are 1-2 and travel to Heritage Christian on Saturday to begin Circle City Conference play.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 43, GUERIN CATHOLIC 22
Guerin Catholic FG FT TP PF
Reagan Haines 1 0-0 2 4
Natalie Fernandez 2 3-3 7 3
Anna Murphy 1 0-0 3 1
Kori Dues 1 0-0 3 0
Megan Cobb 1 0-0 2 0
Sutton Worman 1 0-0 2 4
Ava Bills 1 1-1 3 1
Caitlyn Sharpe 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 8 4-4 22 13
Guerin Catholic 3-pointers (2) Murphy, Dues.
Hamilton Heights FG FT TP PF
Ella Hickok 0 6-6 6 1
Camryn Runner 5 6-7 17 3
Kaylee Rhoton 3 0-0 9 0
Kassidy Schakel 0 0-0 0 2
Hadleigh Cherry 0 0-0 0 2
Katie Brown 3 1-2 10 0
Macie Smith 0 0-0 0 1
Taylor Harley 0 0-0 0 0
Morgan Ottinger 0 1-2 1 0
Totals 11 14-17 43 9
Heights 3-pointers (7) Brown 3, Rhoton 3, Runner 1.
Score by Quarters
Guerin Catholic 5 7 2 8 – 22
Hamilton Heights 8 10 16 9 – 43