Senior Night for the West Morris Highlanders posed many problems for the Vernon Vikings. Altogether, the seniors scored 22 of the total points as the Highlanders took down conference opponent Vernon 53-31. The game started off close, but the Highlanders started to take a big lead and the Vikings had no way to stop them as Senior Julia Scanlon had a career high 17.

The start of the game began with turnovers and steals for each team as neither one was able to get the ball through the net. It wasn’t until just over three minutes into the game when a basket was finally scored. With the help of starting seniors Age Orlando, Hailey Koop, Mary Cabarle, Alisa Greco, and Jess Poole, the Highlanders jumped out to a 4-0 lead from Orlando and Cabarle layups. Defensively, Cabarle was able to make a few steals and even a block to keep the Highlanders on top. The Vikings were finally able to get on the board from a Mallory Costello layup, but the tough defense from Greco and Shayna Ericksen stopped any more shots from falling as the first quarter closed out at 10-2.

The lead was really stretched just before half time as the Highlanders scored 19 points in the second quarter alone. Many of these points are attributed by Julia Scanlon and Ericksen who combined for 14 of these points. The one chance Vernon had to gain some momentum came from a three point shot by Carrie MacDonald, but, right after, West Morris stormed down the court, passed the ball off to Poole and she was able to sink a three pointer to silence any hope for a Vernon comeback. At the end of the first half, the score was 29-5.

The Viking’s halftime speech must have been Herb Brooks-like as the girls came back out on the court, nailing a barrage of three pointers. Two from MacDonald and two from Brittany Ast shrunk the lead for West Morris, but the Highlanders quickly responded with buckets from Ericksen and Scanlon and a three point shot by Carly Shello.

The final quarter consisted of much of the same, a three pointer by Shello of West Morris and MacDonald of Vernon and Ericksen and Scanlon layups. Nadia Womble had a layup for the Vikings followed by another layup from Costello, but West Morris’ Koop summed up the Highlanders’ night, scoring the final points of the game with a layup to round the score off at 53-31.

The Highlanders move ahead to 16-3, while the Vikings fall to 14-5. The win solidified another conference win for the girls from West Morris. The girls will play a quarterfinal county game Saturday against Morris Knolls at Morris Knolls High School in hopes of repeating as county champs.