Huskies top New Paltz in opener

By Mike Zummo
Posted 12/7/22

The Highland girls’ basketball team wanted to bring the energy into Friday’s season opening contest against the New Paltz Huguenots.

They brought it, playing a stifling defense, and …

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Huskies top New Paltz in opener

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The Highland girls’ basketball team wanted to bring the energy into Friday’s season opening contest against the New Paltz Huguenots.

They brought it, playing a stifling defense, and produced enough offense to beat the Huguenots, 55-32, in a non-league game at Highland High School.

“I was pushing for some energy, and I think that showed in the game with all of our energy, I think good things will happen,” Highland coach Michael Geller said. “We spread the floor nicely. There’s definitely some stuff we want to work on. I think the girls are happy to get that first win of the season.”

Grace Koehler led the Huskies with a game-high 21 points, but Geller believes he has a Huskies’ team that won’t have to rely on any one player to provide the offense.

“Grace is a star player for us, but I think any given night, with the way we can move the ball, we can have a different leading scorer on different nights,” Geller said. “I don’t think we have the big scorer that some other teams might have that we have to guard. I think anybody on our team can score in double digits, so we’re very lucky.”

The Huskies only trailed at the onset when a free throw by Kealle Masseo and a basket by Malanga Douglas gave the Huguenots a 3-8 lead about 1:15 into the game.

Koehler answered with a basket and then Kayleigh Kaplan hit two free throws to give the Huskies a 4-2 lead. Even though a layup by Lilly Sturgis pulled New Paltz to within a point the Huskies answered with a 7-0 run to take a 13-5 lead.

The Huskies blew things open in the second quarter, outscoring the Huguenots 16-8 on their way to a 31-16 halftime lead.

Even though the Huguenots never posed a serious threat to the Huskies’ lead, both teams played intense defense.

“New Paltz and Highland – when I was growing up – were big rivals so it’s nice to kind of rekindle a little bit today,” Geller said.

With Friday’s win, the Huskies are already two wins away from matching their total from last year as they look to turn a corner and make the sectionals and a run at the Mid Hudson Athletic League Division title.

Geller also said he believed his team would be a fun one to watch, and that certainly showed on Friday night.
But there are things to work on as well.

“We’re trying to at least break even in that rebounding battle,” Geller said. “We need to fight and win all those rebounds. With a bigger team, that might be something we really have to key on as we go along. We also have to rely on the three-point shot and when it’s not falling, we have to attack the basket, get those free throws and layups.”