After a winning day in Fort Wayne on Tuesday, Hamilton Heights made a slightly shorter trip Thursday to Hartford City to play Blackford.
The result of the trip was the same: Another Huskies win. Class 3A No. 6 Heights overwhelmed the Bruins 58-31 to grab its eighth consecutive victory.
“Coming in we knew Blackford was going to compete and play hard,” said Huskies coach Keegan Cherry. The coach noted that the Bruins had only lost two games coming into Thursday night. Blackford is now 7-3 for the season.
“They have two really nice players in (Olivia) Leas and (Liv) Walters,” said Cherry. “They can be really hard to guard when they get going.”
But the Huskies’ defense took care of business, never allowing Blackford to score more than nine points during the quarter. Heights led 12-7 after the first quarter and 24-15 at halftime. Mia Shields had an exceptional first half, scoring 13 points, including three 3-pointers.
“In the first half, Mia Shields made some timely baskets they answered and stopped any run Blackford tried to make,” said Cherry.
In the second half, the Huskies’ offense got going even more. Heights poured in 19 points during the third quarter to take a 43-22 lead. Camryn Runner as outstanding with 12 points, throwing in a pair of 3s. Runner then took care of business from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, making all six of her foul shots.
“We challenged Camryn at halftime and she responded,” said Cherry. “She was really good and set the tone early in the third quarter.”
Runner finished with 27 points, while Shields scored 20 and totaled four 3s. Kaylee Rhoton made a pair of triples for six points, and MyKayla Moran added five points.
“Our team is really unselfish,” said Cherry. “It’s all about winning.” The coach mentioned what could be a mission statement for each player: Be great in their roles and be ready when they have an opportunity.
“That’s us. And we did that tonight,” said Cherry.
The Huskies are 12-3 and are off until Jan. 6, when they host Lewis Cass in a Hoosier Conference East Division game.
HAMILTON HEIGHTS 58, BLACKFORD 31
Heights FG FT TP PF
Ella Hickok 0 0-1 0 3
Mia Shields 7 2-2 20 1
Camryn Runner 9 7-10 27 2
Kaylee Rhoton 2 0-0 6 2
MyKayla Moran 2 1-1 5 0
Hadleigh Cherry 0 0-0 0 4
Kennedy Cherry 0 0-0 0 0
Morgan Ottinger 0 0-0 0 0
Katie Brown 0 0-1 0 0
Totals 20 10-15 58 12
Score by Quarters
Heights 12 12 19 15 – 58
Blackford 7 8 7 9 – 31
Heights 3-point shooting (8) Shields 4, Runner 2, Rhoton 2.