Devin Clark

The first quarter was a track meet between Prairie Home/Bunceton and Higbee as the Dragons sprinted out to a 27-18 lead.

The Higbee girls couldn’t keep pace with the visitors down the stretch in a 67-43 loss on Tuesday.

Macey Whisenand led the Tigers with 15 points. Devin Clark had 14 points and seven steals, but sat most of the first half after picking up three fouls in less than six minutes.

“I think that hurt us, but honestly my bench did a tremendous job, I was super proud of them,” Higbee coach Tanner Burton said. “They kept it really close.”

Victoria Gibson had four points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Madison Ferguson had six points and Emma Johnson added four.

Higbee limited the Dragons to 11 points in the second quarter and trailed 38-26 at the half. Prairie Home/Bunceton won the third quarter 19-6 to pull away.

“I made adjustments at half that probably hindered us more than anything trying to hide Devin instead of letting her play her game,” Burton said.

“When you put up six points in a quarter, you’re not trying to win a ball game against a good team.

“I think we are heading in the right direction, and losing to a well-coached team like that will help us in the next few weeks.”

The Higbee girls received the three-seed in the six-team Keytesville Tournament girls bracket. The Tigers begin pool play on Tuesday, Jan. 28 facing the two-seed Madison.

“We’ve got a lot of youth, but that’s an excuse,” Burton said.

“At this point in the season, they’ve played enough varsity minutes that they understand there are things to refine. They’re going to get to work and do that and I think that’s great for the future of the program.”