Huskies’ resurgence continues with win over Onteora

By Mike Zummo
Posted 2/1/23

It had been some time since the Highland girls’ basketball team has tasted success.

The Huskies had fallen on some hard times over the last half decade, but 2023-24 has been a resurgent year …

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Huskies’ resurgence continues with win over Onteora

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It had been some time since the Highland girls’ basketball team has tasted success.

The Huskies had fallen on some hard times over the last half decade, but 2023-24 has been a resurgent year for the Huskies, which continued with a 46-30 win over the Onteora Eagles on Friday at Highland High School.

The Huskies finished their Mid-Hudson Athletic League schedule with a 5-1 record.

“It feels great,” said Grace Koehler, who led the Huskies with a game-high 15 points. “I remember my first year when I was in seventh grade on JV, seeing our team then, which was a good team with Bri Rozzi. After that, it was a whole new young team. We’re really rebuilt on that, and now it’s just really nice to see it all coming together.”

Friday night also was a bit of a homecoming for the Huskies, who hadn’t played a home game in a month, since they closed the 2022 portion of their season with a win over the Ellenville Blue Devils.

That could have contributed to an early sloppy start.
“Those jitters are normal,” Highland coach Mike Geller said. “It’s our first game in 38 days back at home. They’re used to being on the road, so it’s new to be home a little. To get back home was nice and to have a great crowd tonight, which was a really supportive crowd was nice to see.”

It was a slow start for both teams as they combined for 11 points in the first quarter, with the Huskies taking a 6-5 lead, but the Huskies took charge in the second quarter.

“Our threes weren’t falling in the beginning,” Koehler said. “We were just moving the ball and getting post touches. That was working for us.”

With the second quarter came some rhythm, as Deanna Barry hit a basket 11 second into the quarter to widen the Huskies’ lead to three points.

After Onteora’s Grace Young hit a free throw, Koehler’s basket started a 6-0 run that gave the Huskies a 14-6 lead.

“Our threes were not falling so I had to make the adjustments and attack the rim,” Geller said. “We needed to get those low post touches, we outhustled them to get second-chance points and the 3s would come with time.”

Only two threes came in the first half, one in the first quarter by Addie McDowell and another by Danica Valente. Koehler hit two in the third quarter before sitting out most of the fourth with a large lead.

The Huskies didn’t need as much offense on Friday as the defense kept the Eagles to nine combined points in the second and third quarters.

“The matchups worked well tonight with who they are on,” Geller said. “I think that our defense leads the offense, and I think that happened tonight with our good defense-led transition points. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

The Huskies were scheduled to return to the court on Monday for a road game against New Paltz before finishing off their MHAL schedule against Division IV opponents, Pine Plains, Webutuck and Millbrook.

“We can always be improving, but we’ve definitely gotten better throughout the season,” Koehler said. “We’ve been working on things like our offense and looking for other options when the threes aren’t falling and using the post and the lane more.”