Highlassies, Highlanders come up short

The McLennan Highlassies fell to the Hill Lady Rebels 79-76 in overtime on Saturday afternoon in Hillsboro.

The two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of play with McLennan leading 10-8 with 15:45 to play in the first half. Hill used a 12-0 run to take the 20-10 lead with 11:15 to go. The Highlassies responded with a 10 -0 run to tie the game at 20 less than three minutes later. The Lady Rebels led 34-28 at the half.

Hill increased the lead to eight early in the second half. McLennan rallied to tie the game at 44 with 12:12 to play. The Lady Rebels pulled away again, leading 54-46 with 7:11 on the clock. The Highlassies used a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take the 56-54 lead, their first of the second half. Hill tied the game and took the lead on a pair of free throws with 2:33 to go. The Lady Rebels led 67-63 with 23 seconds remaining. McLennan's Re'Elle Miller cut the lead to one with a layup and foul shot with 9.1 seconds to play. Hill extended the lead to three on a pair of Niniva Taito free throws, 69-66. The Highlassies' Kaylin Roher drained a long 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to force overtime.

The Lady Rebels led by as many as seven in the extra period. Hill led 78-76 with 21 seconds remaining. Kendra Wynn had a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line for McLennan, but both shots bounced off the iron. Taito went 1-2 from the line with 4.5 seconds to play, extending the lead back to three. Roher's 3-point attempt to force the second overtime was short, giving Hill the hard-fought win.

Roher led the Highlassies with 25 points and Caylinne Martin added 15. Wynn and Miller scored 10 points each.

In men's action, the Highlanders fell to second-ranked Hill 81-76. 

The game was close through the first 13 minutes of play. Hill led 18-17 with 6:58 remaining in the first half. The Rebels used a 6-0 run over the next two minutes to begin pulling away and increased the lead to 10 at the half, 34-26.

McLennan began to rally midway through the second half. Hill led 62-53 with 8:42 remaining in the game. The Highlanders rallied, using an 8-0 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers by Alex Mills, to cut the lead to one 62-61. The Rebels extended the lead back to six, 69-63, with 5:31 to go. McLennan cut the lead to three several times down the stretch but was unable to pull any closer.

Mills led the Highlanders with 19 points. Jalen Jones and Ricardo Artis scored 14 and 12, respectively.

McLennan returns to action on Wednesday, hosting Southwestern Christian. The women's game begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.

Hill 79, McLennan 76

McLennan: Kaylin Roher 7 5-5 25; Kyera Coleman 1 1-2 3; Kendra Wynn 4 1-6 10; Demi Cumby 2 0-0 4; Re'Elle Miller 2 5-9 10; Amani Davis 2 3-4 7; Adrienne Drake 1 0-2 2; Caylinne Martin 6 3-3 15; Totals: 25 18-31 76.

Hill: Adrianna Davis 3 104 7; Bailey Broadnax 5 7-12 17; Brittany Johnson 3 2-2 11 Niniva Taito 5 7-8 21; Brianna Cribb 6 3-6 15; Erika Brown 1 2-4 4; Shuntay Raglin 2 0-0 4; Totals: 25 22-36 79.

3-pointers: McLennan 8 (Roher 6, Wynn 1, Miller 1), Hill 7 (Taito 4, Johnson 3); Total fouls: McLennan 26, Hill 26; Fouled out: McLennan (Cumby), Hill (Davis, Cribb); Halftime score: Hill 34, McLennan 28; Record: McLennan 10-14 ( 5-7).

Hill 81, McLennan 76

McLennan: Rashaan Surles 1 1-1 3; K.J. Boyd 0 1-4 1; Jalen Jones 4 6-6 14; Elijah Mayes 2 0-0 4; James Harrison 3 1-2 8; Alex Mills 6 4-4 19; Ricardo Artis 5 0-0 12; Jeff Beverly 0 2-2 2; Ben Brown-White 3 3-8 9; Devon Washington 2 0-0 4; Totals: 26 16-27 76.

Hill: Tyrell Bellot-Green 6 5-6 19; Marcus Johnson Jr. 11 2-2 28; Coris Williams Jr. 7 3-4 17; Ke'Von Rice 1 0-0 2; Davocio Butler 1 1-3 4; Kristian Keys 3 0-0 7; Stefan Zecevic 1 2-5 4; Totals: 30 13-20 81.

3-pointers: McLennan 6 (Mills 3, Artis 2, Harrison 1), Hill 8 (Johnson Jr. 4, Bellot-Green 2, Butler 1, Keys 1); Total fouls: McLennan 20, Hill 19; Halftime score: Hill 36, McLennan 26; Record: McLennan 21-6 (6-3).