Lady Highlanders split week's outings

Abbey Moore and Taylor Osterhout recorded season highs against Hass Hall. Moore poured in 22 points, including a 4-of-7 performance at the free throw line while Osterhout had 20 and was 10 of 17 from the charity stripe. The duo combined for all but two of Eureka Springs' points, a basket by Jazmin Urioste.

The Lady Highlanders led 11-4 after the opening frame and 17-10 at the half. Eureka outscored Haas Hall 11-8 in the third before dominating the Lady Mastiffs 16-0 in the closing stanza.

Eureka Springs coach Brian Rambo said the Lady Highlanders didn't play their best but that he was pleased with the win.

"Winning ugly is better than losing ugly," he said. "The game was marred by turnovers for both teams. Our press was very effective against them but we couldn't capitalize in the first half. We let them hang around and have the momentum at half. Eventually our press wore them down. We got them into terrible foul trouble, finished a few shots and made some free throws."

The Lady Highlanders couldn't keep the momentum going on Thursday against Alpena, dropping to 3-2 overall. Samantha Mueller led Eureka Springs in scoring with 12 points, all coming from beyond the 3-point line, while Osterhout added eight.

"We played well in stretches," Rambo said. "We actually led by seven in the first quarter. But we couldn't guard them inside. This was a good learning experience for our kids."