Highland girls return to regional tourney

SNYDER — Highland will be going back to Snyder for another basketball game at 4 p.m. Friday and possibly again Saturday for the Region II-1A tournament.

This time it is seeking a longer stay at Western Texas College than the Lady Hornets had when they lost to Robert Lee last year in the semifinal round.

This time Highland will take on the Lady Falcons from Veribest, after tuning up Tuesday at WTC’s coliseum with a dominant 36-18 win over Westbrook.

Technically, it was a dominant second half.

It was a two-point game on Tuesday with Highland leading Westbrook 19-17 in the early minutes of the third quarter when Taylor Allen, Layla Herrera and Easton Dunivan collectively helped fuel a 17-1 run to end their regional quarterfinal playoff, and fourth meeting this year, the first three in District 14-1A play.

Allen scored the last four points of the third period to give Highland a 23-17 lead, and Herrera began the final quarter by connecting on a pair of baskets to extend the lead to 10, 27-17.

Then Duniven, with just a two-pointer to her credit at that point, heated up with a pair of three-pointers and free throw to end the Lady Hornets’ superb finish.

Highland and Westbrook have met seven times in a two-year span, and until Tuesday Highland, despite going 6-1, had won by over five points just one time.

On Friday, another win might mean another 14-1A opponent in the region final Saturday if Hermleigh beats Irion County in the later II-1A semifinal.

Highland got nearly all of its points from the AllenHerrera-Duniven trio which combined for 33 points. The other three came from Kylie Gray, who hit a three-pointer to begin the second half and expand a three-point halftime lead to six points.