The College Heights Christian girls scored the first 17 points of the second half to build a commanding 40-15 lead on their way to a 56-27 win on Monday night over the visiting Purdy Eagles at the College Heights Athletic Complex.
College Heights trailed Purdy 13-12 with 5 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the second quarter, but the Cougars held a 44-14 advantage the rest of the game, including 11-2 to close out the second quarter, 19-4 in the third quarter and 33-12 overall in the second half.
Defense fed into offense for College Heights.
“Our defensive intensity wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half,” College Heights coach John Blankenship said. “We got into a little bit of foul trouble, and we just weren’t moving our feet on the press and reaching too much. We had a discussion at halftime about ball movement on the offensive end and they responded well.
“Our team identity is our defense and our transition game. We get out there on defense, get some steals, and it leads into our transition game where we get high-percentage shots. We had some good looks in the first half, but we were 25 percent from the floor. We picked that up, of course, in the second half and started knocking down shots.”
College Heights senior guard Lauren Ukena finished with a double-double and the latter number indicative of the Cougars’ heightened intensity defensively on Monday — 11 points and 11 steals.
Maddy Colin scored a game-high 13 points to pace College Heights in the points column, while Jayli Johnson added nine, Libby Fanning eight, Ava Lett five, Jesalin Bever four, Molly Long three, Allie Stout two and Kinley Marsh one.
Purdy freshman Courtney Patterson led the Eagles with nine points.
College Heights improved to 3-2 on the season and the Cougars return home Friday for a contest against New Covenant Academy.
COLLEGE HEIGHTS BOYS 66, MILLER 31
It turned out to be a case of second verse, same as the first in the nightcap of the varsity doubleheader Monday night.
College Heights and Miller were tied at eight in the first quarter, then the Cougars scored the final 10 of the first and the first 12 of the second for a 30-8 lead and never looked back.
Curtis Davenport’s first basket of the fourth pushed the game into running-clock and it stayed there for the vast majority of the rest of the game.
“We just did a better job on defense,” College Heights coach Eric Johnson said. “We got some steals, some layups, and some good shots. It was a matter of refocusing.”
In the home and season opener against Providence Academy (Ark.), played almost two weeks earlier, Davenport scored a game-high 32 points during a 64-51 win for the Cougars.
On Monday night, junior forward Caleb Quade scored a game-high 25 points, highlighted by 12 points during that decisive 22-0 scoring run.
“We needed him,” Johnson said. “At the Pierce City tournament his last two games, he didn’t play as well as he could for us. I think he decided to make up for it by not playing well over there. It gives us that second scorer inside, between him and Curtis. Caleb stepped up tonight and had a good first half, a good night for us.”
Quade also had 21 points in the win at home against Providence Academy.
College Heights outscored Miller 58-23 after that early tie score.
Davenport, Ben Thomas, and Jayce Walker each scored eight points, Bo Sitton six, Ethan Ukena four, Logan Decker three, and Zach Beaty and Liam Nelson chipped in two each.
Nate Hill and Owen Weiss each led Miller with seven points.
Before the game, Davenport was recognized for reaching and surpassing 1,000 career points with his 32-point night against Providence Academy giving him the milestone.
College Heights improved to 4-1 on the season with the win Monday and the Cougars are back in action Friday on the road against Hermitage.
