There was no sisterly love from top-seeded West Morris today as the Highlanders beat sister school Mendham 49-20 in the first round of the Morris County Tournament. The sixteenth-seeded Minutemen were not able to break the double digit mark until the end of the third quarter and on the other side of the court, the Highlanders relied on Ally Tank as the playmaker today. Meade Brewster had eight points for Mendham.

The Minutemen gave the Highlanders some competition in the beginning, opening up the game with a fast pace. Brewster was able to sink a foul shot and a layup, while Alisa Greco and Julia Scanlon each had a layup early in the first quarter. Shayna Ericksen had three baskets and an unforgiving block on Mendham’s Liz Malman to close out the first quarter at 12 to 6.

After the first quarter, however, the Minutemen weren’t able to score another point until after halftime. The second quarter consisted of steals and layups for the Highlanders. Tank had a steal on Mendham’s opening inbound pass and passed it off to Scanlon who was fouled on her way up to the hoop. She sank her two foul shots and on the Minutemen’s next possession, Jess Poole had her own steal, dribbled down the court and made it rain from the three point line. There was a scare for Scanlon in the middle of the quarter when she went down hard on her knee. The bionic point guard, however, shook it off and was soon back out on the court, driving to the hoop, making steals, and racking up the assists for the Highlanders. The half closed out at 29 to 6 after Tank made a spinning and acrobatic layup.

Although the Minutemen were able to get points on the board in the third, they only managed to get four as West Morris’s defense and offense were just too much to handle. Ericksen and tank each had layups to open up the half for the Highlanders. Brewster helped out Mendham after she sunk two foul shots and Veronica Iozzi added the other two points off of foul shots as well. Ericksen had another block and Scanlon banked two more foul shots to go a perfect 4 for 4 on the day. Mary Cabarle had a layup and an assist to Hailey Koop at the end of the third with the score at 42 to 10.

The Minutemen were able to score their most points in the fourth quarter as they managed to tally ten. Paige Russel scored her two points off of foul shots early in the quarter. A layup by Brewster soon followed and the small burst of momentum was quickly shut down with points by Carly Shello for West Morris. Mendham got the remainder of their points from foul shots, some by Brewster and others by Iozzi. Amy McQuaide closed out the game with a layup for the Highlanders, with a final score of 49 to 20.

The Highlanders move ahead to 14-3 as the girls advance in the Morris County Tournament, while the Minutemen fall to 9 and 7 on the season.