By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
Hamilton Heights picked up its first win of the season on Tuesday, beating Guerin Catholic 68-27 in an all-county game at the Eagles Nest.
“It’s always good to win,” said Heights coach Keegan Cherry. “Our first three games, I thought the girls did a lot of really good things. It was just a matter of attention to detail. That’s something we talk about every day in practice.”
The Huskies were in control from the beginning, scoring the game’s first seven points. Heights led 14-4 after the first quarter; Kayla Kirtley had seven for the Huskies.
Nicole Cunningham opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer for the Golden Eagles. Guerin was within 16-8 early in the period, but Heights closed the half on a 14-0 run. Lexi Branham got things started with back-to-back 3s, then Kirtley would later make two free throws right before converting a traditional three-point play.
“Credit their coaching staff, their girls played hard all four quarters,” Cherry said of the Golden Eagles. “We just jumped on them early there, and then we always talk about playing to a standard, regardless of the score, regardless of who we’re playing. We always want to play to a standard and we did that fairly well for 32 minutes tonight.”
The Huskies began the third quarter like they did the first, scoring seven points. Bayleigh Runner started the half with a three-point play. Heights led 46-12 after three periods. The Golden Eagles made back-to-back 3s of their own towards the end of the fourth, with Mary Theresa Ford and Carly Hammons both draining long-range baskets.
Kirtley scored 21 points for the Huskies. Ana Collar wound up with a double-double of 15 rebounds and 12 points. Branham added 11 points and handed out four assists. Lauryn Wiley grabbed eight rebounds.
Sydney Geis scored nine points to lead Guerin Catholic. Sarah Holba pulled eight rebounds, with Dani Mason getting five boards.
Heights is now 1-3 and travels to the Kilmer Classic at Fort Wayne Snider on Saturday. The Huskies will play Northrop at 11 a.m. and the host Panthers at 3 p.m.
The Golden Eagles are 0-4 and host Heritage Christian Saturday in an afternoon Circle City Conference game. Tipoff is 2:30 p.m.
