OLIVESBURG — Lucas learned from last year’s early postseason exit.
Kayla Hignite scored 25 points as the second-seeded Cubs roared to a 73-13 win over No. 13 Plymouth in the Division IV sectional semifinals Tuesday at Crestview High School.
As the No. 2 seed, the Cubs could have taken an opening-round bye and advanced directly to a sectional championship game. Instead, coach Kathy Grover decided to play a semifinal game. Last year, Grover took the first-round bye and the Cubs fell to Sandusky St. Mary in the sectional finals.
“Sometimes that first tournament game can be ugly because of the nerves. That’s how it was for us last year,” Grover said. “Last year we picked the wrong night to have our worst shooting night of the year.
“That’s why we decided to play early this year even though we played eight games in the first 15 days of February. We wanted to play first to get the nerves out of the way.”
Nerves weren’t a problem for the Cubs on Tuesday. Lucas trailed 2-0 before scoring 50 unanswered points.
The Cubs led 37-2 after the first quarter and 57-6 at the half. Hignite scored 21 points in the first half.
“I was really pleased with how well we shot,” Grover said. “We made almost all of our layups, which we don’t always do, but we also shot it well from the perimeter.”
As good as they were at the offensive end, the Cubs were even better on defense. Lucas forced several turnovers and turned most of them into points.
“That is our bread-and-butter,” Grover said. “Our defense starts our offense.”
The Cubs led 67-7 after the third quarter and 73-7 midway through the fourth. Shelby Grover and Paige Arnold each had 10 points for the Cubs, while Jessie Grover added nine.
Hannah Gillum, Justice Sandy and Jovi Tackett each scored four points for the Big Red.
The Cubs (19-4) will play for their 20th win against 12th-seeded New London at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Crestview. The last time Lucas won 20 games in a season was 1985.
“Twenty-win seasons don’t come along very often, especially for us,” Grover said. “That’s something the girls are shooting for.”
