Despite being short-handed down stretch, Highlands girls hold off Knoch

By: Michael Love
Monday, January 22, 2024 | 9:58 PM

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In a close, intense game that went down to the wire, Highlands made key plays to hold off section rival Knoch in an important Section 1-4A clash Monday at Highlands High School.

Playing without senior point guard Kalleigh Nerone for almost the entire second half because of an ankle injury and senior starter Shelby Wojcik for the final two minutes after she fouled out, the Golden Rams made defensive stops and connected on 3 of 4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to hold off the Knights, 56-52.

“All of my teammates stepped up tonight, and that is what we really needed,” said Kate Myers, who finished with a game-best 20 points and hit 1 of 2 from the line with 4 seconds left to put the win on ice. “This win is important for the future knowing we can win close games like this.”

Highlands (11-5, 6-2) got back in the win column after last Thursday’s four-point loss to section leader North Catholic.

The Golden Rams completed the season sweep, having already scored a 38-24 win over the Knights on Dec. 18.

“Knoch shot the ball extremely well tonight, and they played tough,” Highlands coach Shawn Bennis said. “They played just as hard, if not harder, than us tonight. We pride ourselves in having no teams play harder than us. There were times where we had lapses where we weren’t playing as hard as them.

“I told them at halftime — not knowing how Kalleigh was going to be — that we were going to need everyone to win this game.”

Knoch fell to 8-7 overall and 3-4 in the section. The Knights are a half game up on Freeport (3-5) for fourth place in the section. The Knights and Yellowjackets meet Thursday at Knoch High School.

“The girls gave it their all,” Knoch coach Shane McGraw said. “We missed a couple shots at the end that would’ve been nice to see go down, but the effort was there. The teams know each other so well. We try to take away each other’s strengths. It came down to who could put the ball in the net down the stretch. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that enough.”

Highlands led by five at halftime, and its biggest lead the rest of the way was five at 43-38 with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third.

Knoch led by two points twice in the third and then tied the score 50-50 on a free throw from senior forward Adah Fuller with 4:28 left in the fourth.

Senior Casey Teribery, one of three off the bench to help give the Golden Rams some stability with Nerone out of the game, put Highlands up for good with a layup with 4:07 on the clock.

Wojcik committed her fifth foul with 2:08 to go, and 28 seconds later, junior Karlee Buterbaugh made a layup to draw Knoch to within one at 53-52.

With the clock under a minute and the Knights with the ball on two separate possessions, Golden Rams senior Jocelyn Bielak corralled a pair of defensive rebounds. She was fouled on the second rebound and sank two free throws with 18 seconds left to make it 55-52.

Sophomore Neah Ewing put up a three with under 10 seconds left, but her shot trajectory was altered by Golden Rams sophomore Bella Bonnett, and Bielak got the rebound. She passed to Myers who was fouled, setting up the game-clinching free throw.

“We talk all the time about being ready to make the next play,” Bennis said. “No matter what happened on previous plays, the opportunities were there, and Jocelyn and others took advantage of those opportunities.”

Nerone suffered the ankle injury while dishing the ball for a made field goal by junior Tyarah Woody with five minutes left in the first quarter. She had to be helped off the court, but after receiving treatment, she was able to return to the game later in the quarter.

The ankle proved to be too much of a hindrance, and Nerone had to leave the game for good with five minutes left in the third quarter.

She finished the game with three points, three assists, and six rebounds.

“Kalliegh is such a good shooter, ball handler and distributor for them,” McGraw said. “We hope she is OK moving forward. It hurts them when that type of player leaves the court. But they have a number of experienced playmakers, and they have that next-man-up mentality.”

Woody finished one rebound shy of a double-double for the Golden Rams as she scored 12 and pulled down nine boards.

Wojcik scored eight for Highlands before exiting the game.

Senior Naturelle Ewing led Knoch with 17 points, including 11 in the first quarter on the strength of a trio of 3-pointers.

Senior CeCe Kosecki added 11 for the Knights.

Fuller, who was kept off the score sheet in the first half, came back and tallied eight of her nine in the third quarter. She also finished with eight rebounds.

Neah Ewing also finished with nine points. All nine came in the first half.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Highlands, Knoch