After a span of 16 days with no games and only a handful of practices, thanks to Mother Nature, the Higbee teams returned to the hardwood in style, sweeping Northwestern in Mendon on Thursday. 

The Higbee girls won 61-19. The boys won 76-39.

The Lady Tigers scored 50 points in the first half en route to their fifth CLAA win of the season.

The girls are now 10-2 overall and undefeated at 5-0 in the conference.

“I was proud of their efforts after being off for so long,” said Higbee coach Tanner Burton. “It would have been easy to have a letdown, but they came locked in and flew up and down the court.”

Lauren Spilman led the girls with 16 points, seven steals and four assists. Ronnie Welch added 16 points. Nine players finished with at least two steals and one assist.

In boys’ action, sixth-ranked Higbee allowed only 15 points in the first half, heading into the break ahead 43-15.

Senior phenom Derek Rocket finished one assist shy of a triple-double in just 23 minutes of action. He still managed to score a game-high 23 points with 10 rebounds and nine assists. 

Senior Jaxon Hudson finished with 15 points and a team-high 11 boards for the double-double. Senior Will Spilman made his mark with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

“You expect them to step up, but with the lack of practice in the last 16 days, it was nice to see them take charge and allow the others to ease into it,” Burton said. “The leadership and maturity these guys provide us nightly is huge.”