By CHUCK LARSEN

Sports Editor



NOBLE – The biggest question as Chickasha went on the road to Noble for the Bears’ Homecoming Friday night was if the Lady Chicks would be able to beat them without Paige Hightower.

The senior center and team leader had 20 points in her final game prior to shoulder surgery two weeks ago in Chickasha but the Chicks only won by five points, 47-42, in a match-up of the two struggling and winless teams.

Top-ranked Carl Albert ran them out of the gym in Thursday night’s makeup game and there was some concern coming in if they’d be able to bounce back 24 hours later or let the Bears get that elusive first win.

Chickasha answered with their best top-to-bottom performance of the year, jumping all over Noble from the tip for a dominating 57-23 thumping. With Hightower cheering them on from the bench, the entire team stepped up as a whole for the first time all year. All nine girls played and all nine scored.

Senior Diamon Heath, taking over at center, played with ferocity to set the tone early and kept it up all game, dominating both lanes, scoring eight points, pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing off four assists. The Bears simply couldn’t stop her from doing anything she wanted to do.

Junior Will’Eisha Irby got the chore of defending Noble’s Robbie Lee, who had 15 points to keep things close at Chickasha. Irby finished with eight points and six rebounds, but she totally frustrated the Bears’ leading scorer, shutting her down completely and essentially taking her out of the game until Lee picked up three free throws against the reserves late in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Mary Kathleen Allen also finished with eight points, all of them in a spurt to close out the first half and open the second and break the Bears’ backs for good. With the Chicks up by five and a minute to go, Allen buried a three from the elbow than just got a toe on the line for a very long deuce from the same spot on the next possession to open up a 23-13 halftime lead. She made it a 13-point cushion on the Chicks’ first possession of the third quarter, hitting another trey from the same spot on the other end.

Freshman point guard Haylee Henry and freshman post Sierra Hamilton each finished with eleven game-high points off the bench. Henry, the backup one, buried a pair of threes from out front, one to close out the third quarter and the other to open the fourth.

Hamilton, who had a solid game in the Carl Albert loss, had another one, pounding inside and getting to the free throw line six times, converting seven of twelve freebies. She finished with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double, her first at the high school level.

Sophomores Lauren White and Haley Harris each had four points, junior Gab Atwell added two and freshman Hannah Slaton finished things off with a free throw in the closing seconds to put the game away.

Shooting and rebounding helped, but the smothering Chick team defense did Noble in. Chickasha forced 30 turnovers while only turning the ball over themselves 13 times.