By RICHIE HALL
ARCADIA – It was an eventful night at Hamilton Heights on Thursday, as the Huskies cut the ribbon on their new high school athletic center, and saw their girls basketball senior players off with a big victory.
Heights beat Lafayette Jefferson 67-35 to finish its regular season. The Huskies shrugged off a slow first half to deliver a dominant third quarter, which sent them to a win and ran Heights’ win streak to five, a nice way to enter sectional play.
“It was a great night for our seniors,” said Huskies coach Keegan Cherry. “The first half, we just didn’t bring it for whatever reason. If it was the reality of your last home game. That’s always a tough, tough thing when it hits you in the face.”
Still, Heights led 20-14 after the first quarter, with senior Bayleigh Runner scoring 11 of those points, including two 3-pointers. The second period was a low-scoring one, but the Huskies outscored the Bronchos in that one, and led 29-21 at halftime. Runner added another seven points in the second, to total 18 for the half.
“There are certain players whenever you get an opportunity to coach and they leave your program, and you know you’re going to not going to have them after four years, and you dread when that time comes, and Bayleigh Runner’s one of those players that I dread not having on the floor going forward,” said Cherry. “Now her ride’s not over yet. Next season I’m going to look for 5 out there and she’s not going to be there, so it’s going to be an adjustment for all of us.”
Meanwhile, the Huskies got themselves adjusted in the second half and rolled through the third quarter, outscoring Lafayette Jeff 27-2. Heights had contributions from everyone, with Jillian Osswald hitting two 3s on her way to 12 points in that period. MyKayla Moran added six points during the quarter.
“We had a good conversation at halftime and we came out in the second half and got after it,” said Cherry. “We were the better team the first half, we didn’t play like it. The second half we did.”
The Huskies led 56-23 after three quarters, and sailed through the fourth quarter, maintaining their 30-point margin. Runner finished the game with four 3-pointers on her way to 25 points, led the rebounds with seven and handed out four assists.
Osswald scored 17 points in a great all-around game, with eight assists, seven steals and four rebounds. Moran added eight points and collected six rebounds. Kaylee Rhoton also scored eight and senior Payton Dissett contributed seven points.
Heights finished the regular season 14-10 and will travel to Yorktown to play in Class 3A Sectional 24 next week. The Huskies will play the host Tigers on Wednesday.
“Yorktown will be one of the better teams that we’ve played all year,” said Cherry. “It’s going to be a huge challenge for us. We’re definitely the underdog going over there and we don’t mind that. Hopefully our schedule has prepared us, but we’ll definitely have our hands full.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Heights cut the ribbon on its new athletic center. The center contains, among other things, a brand-new entrance, video screens, a new concession stand and shows off memorabilia from Huskies championship teams. You can see videos of the athletic center on the Reporter’s Facebook page.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 67, LAFAYETTE JEFFERSON 35
Heights FG FT TP PF
Jillian Osswald 7-15 1-3 17 0
Bayleigh Runner 9-11 3-3 25 5
Payton Dissett 3-9 0-0 7 1
Sydney Runyan 1-1 0-0 2 0
MyKayla Moran 4-6 0-0 8 1
Kaylee Rhoton 3-4 2-2 8 0
Chloe Henderson 0-1 0-0 0 1
Shanna Moffatt 0-1 0-0 0 1
Alayna Baber 0-1 0-0 0 0
Cassidy Felger 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 27-49 6-8 67 9
Score by Quarters
Lafayette Jeff 14 7 2 12 – 35
Heights 20 9 27 11 – 67
Heights 3-point shooting (7-21) Runner 4-6, Osswald 2-7, Dissett 1-4, Moffatt 0-1, Baber 0-1, Rhoton 0-1, Henderson 0-1.
Heights rebounds (23) Runner 7, Moran 5, Osswald 4, Runyan 4, Dissett 2, Henderson 1.
Hamilton Heights’ Bayleigh Runner scored 25 points for the Huskies during their 67-35 win over Lafayette Jefferson Thursday in Heights’ Senior Night game. (Richie Hall)