Coming off big win over Collinsville, Highland mounts rally to bury Jerseyville
Coming off a 62-57 overtime signature win over Class 4A power Collinsville at Collinsville on Tuesday, the Highland basketball team had a choppy and uneven start against Mississippi Valley Conference foe Jerseyville on Friday night.
That slow start included Braxdon Decker with just four first-half points.
Decker and the Bulldogs woke up in the second half. The junior guard led four double-figure scorers with a game-high 19 points as Highland pulled away late and posted a 67-54 victory over Jerseyville at Highland High School.
“Tonight, we had s little bit of a letup and we were subbing but I told the guys, that going down the stretch we just can’t do that when games get easy, and going down the stretch it’s gonna be an absolute dogfight and we got to get ready for that,” Highland coach Deryl Cunningham said. “We can’t play super high games and then start high again and then just coast.”
Highland (14-11, 5-2) used an 11-2 run to take control early as a Trey Kishor three-ball and a Jake Ottensmeier driving two bookended the surge.
The lead evaporated in the second quarter as the Panthers took advantage of Highland subbing in players. A 9-2 run capped by Francis Vogel bucket pulled Jerseyville within 27-26 with about a minute left in the half.
“We just didn’t match up on transition,” Decker said. “We didn’t rotate on defense and we didn’t really play together (in the first half).”
The Bulldogs turned things around quickly in the third quarter as Decker keyed a 14-4 run with two free-throws, a three-point play, and a three-pointer, pushing the lead to 43=33 with 2:10 left in the third quarter. Decker exploded for 15 second-half points.
“We just started playing together and touching the ball and everybody doing their part,” Decker said.
Decker, also got some timely help from his teammates offensively as Ottensmeier added 16 points while Grant Fleming and Trey Koishor chipped in 14 and 10 points respectively giving HHS a balanced attack.
“We just needed to pick up the tempo and we didn’t want it to be a letdown game after Collinsville and we kind of let it happen in the first half,” Ottensmeier said. “Coach got on us in the locker room made some adjustments and we picked up the pace a little bit and started shooting the ball a little better in the second half.”
Highland continued to roll in the fourth quarter, leading by as much as 15 points in the final five and a half minutes.
Jackson Brunaugh led Jerseyville (9-15, 1-6) with 20 points. Hunter Herkert added 11 points.
