Bulldogs take win on senior night

Seniors Wyatt, Tuiasosopo lead Highland

PALMDALE — Prior to the game against Quartz Hill, the Highland girls basketball team honored its only two seniors, Aima Tuiasosopo and Zaniyah Wyatt.

During Wyatt’s time to talk on the microphone she ended with “We’re going to turn it up,” or something along those lines.

Led by Wyatt and Tuiasosopo, the Bulldogs remained undefeated in league with an easy 54-28 victory over the Royals on “Senior Night” Thursday evening at Highland High School.

Tuiasosopo, who transferred from Quartz Hill, was emotional following the victory.

“I have history with Quartz Hill and those girls over there. I love those girls,” she said. “And having my family here, it was definitely an emotional night.”

Wyatt led the Bulldogs (20-6, 12-0) with 15 points, while Tuiasosopo added 13 points.

It’s the second consecutive 20win season for Highland under head coach Jeff Sisson.

The Bulldogs jumped out of the blocks like gangbusters. In front of a raucous crowd, the Royals seemed nervous, and Highland took full advantage with a 16-0 run. That included five points by Tuiasosopo and seven for Wyatt.

Tuiasosopo’s 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 13-0 lead. On the ensuing possession for Highland, which is ranked sixth in CIF-Southern Section Division 3AA, Wyatt converted the conventional 3-point play to cap the run with 4:13 remaining in the quarter.

“We all played as a team,” Wyatt said. “We wanted to share

this moment together. I want to leave my senior year undefeated in league. We played Highland basketball and took care of business.

“Our crowd was hyped tonight. It felt like a home game. Tonight, was emotional for me. I love all these girls. They’re like my little sisters.”

Quartz Hill’s (16-8, 8-4) Malaiyah Paulk put a BandAid on the wound only temporarily as she stopped Highland’s run with the Royals’ first bucket at 3:40 left in the first quarter. The Bulldogs led 23-6 after the first.

“We were hot in the first half, but in the second half our shots weren’t falling,” Tuiasosopo said. “We were taking good shots, they just weren’t falling. But, overall, we did what we had to do.”

Turnovers which have plagued the Royals, ranked No. 10 in Div. 4A, all season reared their ugly heads again. Highland forced several in the first quarter, which allowed it to gain the large lead. Quartz Hill committed 26 turnovers overall.

“We are our own worst enemy,” Quartz Hill head coach Dean Miller said. “We rush the ball way too much. We just have to be patient. We do things in practice that aren’t showing on the court. We’re playing hard, but sometimes they try too hard. We have to trust each other. How deep we go in the playoffs is up to us. Self-discipline and execution. We’re a much better team than we’re playing right now.”

The Royals did play much better in the second half as they only lost the final two quarters combined, 18-16.

“I wish we would have played better,” said Quartz Hill’s Payton Wright, who finished with seven points on the only 3-pointer connected for her team, which went 1-for-8 from behind the arc. “I thought we played much better in the second half. We played a crappy first quarter. We got down so much in the first quarter, it just beat us down by halftime. I think we need to work harder in practice. If we step it up at practice and have more team bonding, we’ll be better in the playoffs.”

Grace Faulk led Quartz Hill with 14 points. Paulk added seven points. Mimi Bol finished with 12 points for the Bulldogs.

Highland had an off night shooting the ball from 3-point range. Tuiasosopo finished with two 3s and the other two came from Maya Callis. The Bulldogs, however, shot only 14 percent from 3-point range on 4-of-28 overall.