GRANGER TWP. — Like the rapper Drake, the Highland girls basketball team apparently can go zero to 100 … real quick.
Highland’s Madison Less shoots against Brunswick’s Jessica Skrzypek during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Monday was the epitome of how the experienced Hornets have played this season: The game isn’t always a work of art, but bodies are flying everywhere because the aggression meter is pegged to the max.
Brunswick simply couldn’t handle the desire, hustle and all-around guts as Highland walked away with a surprisingly easy 51-26 non-league victory.
“Once again, we just came out from the start playing hard,” Hornets small forward Madison Less said. “I think that game we played hard the whole game. We didn’t have any breaks. There wasn’t any period where we let down. That frustrated (Brunswick), which helped us because we played hard on defense.”
Despite shooting 1-for-14 from 3-point range — making it 2-for-33 over the last two games — Highland (5-1) got an 11-4 lead without 6-foot-1 center Marlee Profitt scoring, mostly by playing smothering defense and playing unselfishly in transition.
Coach Mike Moser’s Hornets then watched Profitt dominate the second quarter for a 25-13 halftime advantage — the Valparaiso recruit had three put-backs while scoring all 10 Highland points — before tacking on 10 points out of a four-corner offense to make the final score a tad misleading.
Profitt ultimately owned the paint and finished with 20 points, nine rebounds, two assists and four steals. Less lived up to Moser’s nickname for her — “Beast Mode” — with 11 points, four boards, two assists and three steals, while bulldog point guard Sam Catron (4 points, 4 assists), plucky Veronica Peterlin (8 points, 2 assists) and selfless power forward Kathleen Kirchner (8 rebounds) also contributed.
Almost everything the Hornets did well was a result of defense, as Brunswick’s top players — Farrah Benner (15.3 ppg coming in), Olivia Andrew (9.7) and Eileen Salisbury (8.8) — combined for nine points on 4-for-21 shooting. The Blue Devils (4-3), who were two days removed from a well-executed Greater Cleveland Conference win over Elyria, also committed 21 turnovers and made 1-of-15 3-pointers.
“The more we scored, the more down (Brunswick) got,” said Profitt, whose team is allowing 36.5 points per game. “That helped us.
“We were moving our feet, and our help defense also was good. We’ve been working since Day 1, so it’s definitely showing.”
The Blue Devils left battered and bruised after playing arguably their worst game of the season.
There were bright spots, as much-improved varsity newcomer Gabbi Campbell matched Highland’s toughness with 10 points, five steals and two assists. Maria Payne also attacked the rim, while center Paige Billetz held her own against Profitt early.
Still within punching range in the third quarter, there was a sense Brunswick could mount a comeback because of its normally stellar 3-point shooting.
The Hornets never allowed that to happen.
“We just didn’t come out ready to roll, and that was one our keys — whoever wants it more is going to win the game,” Blue Devils coach Halle Schmidt said. “Highland definitely wanted it more than we did. They played a lot harder, they played a lot faster, they communicated with each other, they had passion. We lacked those things tonight. That was the difference.
“It doesn’t matter what we do X’s and O’s because if we don’t have heart, we don’t have the desire — that goes for all 11 that are dressing for our varsity team — it’s tough to win games.”
Note
Hannah Zuro had 22 points as Highland won the action-packed junior varsity game 39-37. Natalie Galaida had 12 points for Brunswick.
Highland 51, Brunswick 26
BRUNSWICK 4 9 9 4 — 26
HIGHLAND 15 10 16 10 — 51
Brunswick — Farrah Benner 1-0-3, Olivia Andrew 2-0-4, Paige Billetz 1-1-3, Gabbi Campbell 5-0-10, Eileen Salisbury 1-0-2, Jessica Skrzypek 0-0-0, Maria Payne 1-2-4, Brittany Henke 0-0-0, Danielle Razzante 0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-3-26.
Highland — Madison Less 3-4-11, Kathleen Kirchner 1-0-2, Marlee Profitt 8-4-20, Veronica Peterlin 4-0-8, Sam Catron 2-0-4, Alli Esker 0-2-2, Emily Lyon 2-0-4, Alaina Monroe 0-0-0, Lauren Zuro 0-0-0, Cameron Angus 0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-10-51.
3-point goals — Benner, Less. Rebounds — Brunswick 29 (Benner 7), Highland 30 (Profitt 9). Assists — Brunswick 3 (Campbell 2), Highland 13 (Catron 4). Records — Brunswick (4-3), Highland (5-1). Junior varsity — Highland 39, Brunswick 37.