Wednesday, March 14, 2001
Highlands upsets Boone Co. for region title
Bluebirds make improbable return to Sweet Sixteen
By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor
HEBRON — Tradition is a large part of the Highlands girls basketball program, but even the staunchest Lady Bluebird fans had trouble envisioning a Ninth Region championship this season. Yet, Highlands is going back to the Sweet Sixteen.
The Lady Bluebirds defended their regional title with a 47-36 upset of Boone County, the state's No.6-rated team, Tuesday night at Conner High School.
Many people believed Highlands could not overcome the loss in January of second-leading scorer Stephanie Ripberger to a knee injury. The Lady Bluebirds also were dealing with the transfer of guard Christian Stefanopoulos to Boone County.
The disbelievers felt justified when Highlands lost 52-38 to Boone County on Feb.8.
“We were at rock bottom,” Highlands coach Luci Cecil said. “I told them at the time that the mountain just got a little steeper. If it gets higher than this, I hope to get there eventually.”
Highlands regrouped, reached its eighth straight regional final, and stunned a Boone County team ranked No.1 in The Enquirer's Northern Kentucky coaches poll.
Tara Boothe, the 6-foot-1 senior center, had 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Lady Bluebirds on Tuesday night.
Highlands will meet 14th Region champion Perry County Central in the Sweet Sixteen on March 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Western Kentucky University.
“We wanted this real bad,” said Boothe, named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. “Nobody expected us to be here, especially after Christian transfered and Stephanie went down. I wanted this real bad.”
“I made a little comment to her before the game,” Cecil said. "I said, "This has to be your night.' She just gave me a little smile and said, "OK.'”
“She played extremely well,” said Boone County coach Nell Fookes, who saw her team's 17-game winning streak snapped. “She just let her talent flow. They did a good job of not forcing it in to her when she wasn't open, and finding her when she was open, and she did a good job of not forcing it when it wasn't there. It's called execution, and they did a nice job of it.”
Highlands was able to take advantage of subpar shooting, which plagued the Lady Rebels the entire tournament. Boone County went 14:50 from the first quarter to the third without a field goal.
Before Ciara Henderson hit a 3-pointer to stop the drought with 5:38 left in the third quarter, Highlands had a 10-point lead.
Boothe scored 12 points in each half. Senior forward Katie Winkler added 10 points while doing the bulk of the ballhandling against Boone County's pressure defense. The Lady Rebels shot just 24.5 percent (13 of 53) for the game. Stefanopoulos, who scored 12 against Highlands in February, was held to three points.
“They did a really nice job of keeping the ball out of Ciara and Christian's hands, and they stepped up and made big shots,” Fookes said. “That's what it takes to win championships.”
BOONE COUNTY (36) — Isaac 6 0 14, Stefanopoulos 0 3 3, Grobmyer 1 0 2, Henderson 6 2 17. Totals: 13 5 36.
HIGHLANDS (47) — Boothe 8 8 24, Winkler 3 3 10, Hamel 1 0 2, Gibson 1 2 5, Konen 2 1 6. Totals: 15 14 47.
Boone County ....... 9 2 9 16—36
Highlands ....... 11 6 12 18—47
3-pointers: BC — Henderson 3, Isaac 2; H — Winkler, Gibson, Konen. Records: B 27-5, H 23-9.
Boys basketball coverage
Girls basketball coverage
Sports Stories
'Prime Time' no sideshow
Boone likes pitchers by the dozen
Parris: No hard feelings
Bengals in negotitations with Verba
Frerotte ends up back in Denver
West, Murphy centers of attention
Xavier scouting report
UC confident in close games
UC scouting report
Highlands upsets Boone Co. for region title