GRANGER TWP. — Ladies and gentlemen, there now is irrefutable proof that karma is real.
Highland’s Veronica Peterlin shoots over Revere’s Abby Brock during the first quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
The Highland and Revere girls basketball teams were in a dogfight Wednesday as the Suburban League American Division season tipped off. Much like they had all night, the Hornets were clinging to a three-possession lead that everyone sensed could flip in a heartbeat.
Then standout Highland center Marlee Profitt sliced through the key to grab an offensive rebound with 3½ minutes left, prompting a Revere fan to scream “C’mon, No. 11 is soft” in a half-disappointed tone.
Less than 10 seconds later, Profitt soared over a defender to grab a cross-key pass from Kathleen Kirchner and powered home a left-handed layup, igniting a closing stretch in which she outscored the entire Revere team.
With Profitt starring late and Veronica Peterlin coming through with a career performance, Highland hung on for a well-earned, wire-to-wire 55-40 victory.
The Minutemen (0-4, 0-1) were without injured stars Caitlin Vari (Akron recruit, knee) and Camryn Brown (High Point, wrist), but that didn’t matter for an experienced Hornets team coming off a gut-wrenching fourth-quarter collapse at Medina on Saturday.
“(Profitt) did what she needed to do,” Highland coach Mike Moser said. “She obviously is our go-to player offensively, and she again took that role on and realized she had to finish. She showed her leadership today.
“It’s a great win. All wins are great wins, but any time you play a team that is well-coached and has won consistently in the league, it’s always good to beat a good team, especially Revere.”
Profitt didn’t hear the smack talk but had seven points and three rebounds after the ill-advised comment echoed throughout the visiting bleachers. The 6-foot-1 center finished with game highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds, giving her season averages of 20.7 and 10.7.
Peterlin (career-high 16 points) was huge in the third quarter with 10 points, including back-to-back 3-pointers late with standout Revere post Viktoria Farian (3 points, 11 rebounds) on the bench with four fouls, while Sam Catron (7 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) and Kirchner (4, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) provided textbook glue-girl showings to help make up for the absence of starting small forward and second-leading scorer Madison Less (soccer showcase).
Behind three-year starter Emily Brock (14 points) and talented freshman power forward Grace Hete (17), hard-nosed Revere got as close as 41-36 in the fourth quarter, but the Hornets’ alternating run-and-jump and 2-2-1 presses forced enough turnovers to keep momentum from swinging.
Highland (2-1, 1-0) has allowed 38, 46 and 40 points in three games.
“We definitely just kept pressuring them,” Peterlin said.
The first half featured a ton of jump balls, tipped passes and all-around hustle, as both teams knew the game projected to be a battle between American Division contenders.
Revere, whose prior losses were to regional qualifiers Massillon Jackson (58-45) and North Royalton (50-43) as well as Division II parochial power Hathaway Brown (55-31), did a masterful job of ensuring its deficit was never unmanageable, while Highland weathered the storm of 3-for-13 shooting in the second quarter to lead 23-18 at halftime.
Minutemen coach Kevin Verde then made an adjustment by using the high-low post game to find Hete inside, but Revere lost offensive flow when Farian got into foul trouble and Peterlin drilled her big 3-pointers.
“I knew we needed to get a bigger lead, so I just tried to score and help everyone else score,” Peterlin said.
Profitt and her “soft” inside play handled the rest.
“Even though we wanted to slow the ball down, we still wanted to put points on the board and not just stall the ball the whole time,” Profitt said.
Note
Hannah Zuro had 16 points as Highland’s junior varsity lost 44-22.
Highland 55, Revere 40
REVERE 9 9 14 8 — 40
HIGHLAND 15 8 17 15 — 55
Revere — Abby Brock 1-0-3, Grace Hete 5-7-17, Viktoria Farian 0-3-3, Alyssa Nicholas 0-1-1, Emily Brock 5-1-14, Salwa Najjar 0-0-0, Hailey Hujer 0-2-2, Alexa Langenfeld 0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-14-40.
Highland — Kathleen Kirchner 2-0-4, Alli Esker 0-0-0, Marlee Profitt 7-7-22, Veronica Peterlin 4-6-16, Sam Catron 3-1-8, Alaina Monroe 2-0-4, Emily Lyon 0-1-1, Lauren Zuro 0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-15-55.
3-point goals — E. Brock 3, A. Brock, Peterlin 2, Catron, Profitt. Rebounds — Revere 32 (Farian 11), Highland 27 (Profitt 12). Assists — Revere 6 (E. Brock, Nicholas, A. Brock 2), Highland 8 (Catron 3). Records — Revere (0-4, 0-1), Highland (2-1, 1-0). Junior varsity — Revere 44, Highland 22.