With one game under their belts, both the Higbee boys and girls enter the Northwestern Tournament at 2-0 after the boys defeated Bevier 87-29 and the girls defeated their counterparts 56-33.

Higbee boys - 87

Bevier boys - 29

In the boys game last Tuesday night, the Tigers doubled the first-quarter output of the Wildcats by scoring 18 to the nine of Bevier. Higbee poured it on in the second quarter taking a 40-17 lead. Adding 29 in the third and 18 in the fourth, Higbee came away with the easy 87-29 win.

Sophomores Jordan Fuemmeler and Derek Rockett wasted no time in getting right back into the swing of things as they scored 39 and 25 points, respectively. Senior Jamie Smith put in eight while classmate Malakai Squires added seven. Sophomore Jaxon Hudson contributed four while senior Luke Ritter and junior Chevy Grimsley each added two. 

While finishing the first quarter with a 10-point run, the Tigers were slow out of the gate as they fell behind 8-9 before pouring in the 10 straight.

Ritter dished out seven assists while Hudson pulled down 12 rebounds and Smith grabbed eight.

“We finished the game rotating seven players,” said coach Tanner Burton. “We had two guys in foul trouble, then (junior) Chad Crawford went in and took two charges before getting injured.”

Higbee forced 35 turnovers on the night.

Higbee girls - 56

Bevier girls - 33

Utilizing a pressure defense seems to be just the ticket for the Higbee girls basketball team as it forced 51 turnovers against Bevier on the way to a 56-33 win last Tuesday.

Freshman Ronnie Welch poured in 30 points, had 13 steals, 10 rebounds, and five assists. “That’s the first triple-double in my nine years on the girl’s side,” said coach Tanner Burton. “Ronnie has transitioned well to the high school ranks and energizes her teammates through her efforts.”

Sophomore Alie Mitchell came off the bench to pump in 10 points. She also pulled down five rebounds and made five steals. Freshman Marilynn Ritter had five points while sophomore Isabelle Welch had four. Senior Macey Whisenand had three while junior Hailey Derboven hit for two as did sophomore Kylleen Gibson.

“We started out pretty stagnant offensively,” said Burton. “But our pressure built and we became more efficient.”

Higbee did not help itself at the charity stripe as it had the opportunity to make 33 free throws but were only able to convert on 10. 

“These are things we will have to improve as we progress if we want to beat quality teams,” said Burton.”We’ll need to fix those things sooner rather than later.”

Both Higbee teams were set to open tournament play in Mendon on Tuesday after this newspaper went to press. The third-seeded girls were to face Bucklin, seeded sixth, at 7 p.m. The boys, seeded first, were to take on eighth-seeded Keytesville at 5:45 p.m. See brackets below.