Lady Huskies pull away from Brooke for decisive road win

Seventy-one points may seem surprising after a couple of outings in which the Lady Huskies struggled to keep pace, but Harrison Central showed Thursday that the offensive potential has always been there.

Harrison Central rolled to a 71-36 win over Brooke Dec. 18, completing a season sweep of the Lady Bruins. The victory was anything but a fluke, as the Huskies combined balanced scoring with aggressive defense to control the game.

The Huskies led 37-22 at halftime and continued to pull away after the break, outscoring Brooke 20-14 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.

“We responded in the second half and pulled away,” Harrison Central girls basketball coach Chace Smith said. “Brooke has some youth, but they’ve improved a lot in a couple weeks. They will blossom into some good ball players by the end of the year.

“They came out with a chip on their shoulders and were ready to play. We had to adjust and we did that. We got focused in the second half and came out and applied the pressure.”

Harrison Central also swept the season series by dominating the first meeting at home, winning by 41 points with a similar all-court scoring attack and disruptive defense.

Kelcie Powers led the Huskies with 12 points, five steals and three assists. Ava Conley scored 11 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Shayla Nameth added nine points, three rebounds, a block and a steal, while Mik Pelegreen chipped in nine points, three steals and two assists. Kara Blackburn scored eight points and led the team with four assists.

Several other Huskies contributed to the scoring effort, highlighting the team’s depth.

Harrison Central improved to 4-4 with the win, while Brooke fell to 2-3.