The Woodlands girls win at College Park

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Nicole Iademarco didn’t quite score a point per minute, but The Woodlands High School girls’ basketball senior did pump in 20 points in just under 23 minutes of playing time to help lift the Lady Highlanders to a 61-40 victory Tuesday over hosts College Park.

Iademarco, an Arizona State commit, hit 8-of-14 shots from the floor and both free-throw attempts while hauling in eight rebounds and collecting nine steals.

The Woodlands raced to a 23-12 lead at the quarter and never looked back, extending that margin to 43-22 by halftime.

Lady Highlanders’ head girls’ basketball coach Dana Bruton wasn’t taking anything for granted in this neighboring rivalry.

“Rivalry is a strange thing,” Bruton said. “College Park has a bunch of hard-working kids. Even though we expected to win, there’s always something that we can get better at. We’ve got some places we need to do some work. ”

The Lady Highlanders maintained their lead in the second half to finish up the first round of District 14-5A play unbeaten at 6-0 (17-7 overall).

“We expected to be in the top (of the standings),” Bruton said. “I wouldn’t say that we expected to be undefeated after the first round. But the kids are working hard and trying to get better at their individual jobs. They’re trying to get better as a cohesive unit.”

Kristin Mahoney (three assists) and Alexis Heathcock contributed with nine points apiece while Payton Walker added eight points and six rebounds.

Amber Terry scored five points and both Aaliyah Wheatfall and Tate Brons finished with three points. Ally Welling scored two points and grabbed four rebounds. Marxli Mettauer pulled down five rebounds to go along with one point, and Katie Burke scored a point and handed out three assists. Pau Bremer also had three assists and two steals. Jessica Hill added a steal, assist, and rebound.

Bruton said she felt it was a big plus to be able to get quality minutes from all 12 girls.

“It’s always been my theory that the deeper you are off the bench, the farther you’ll go in the playoffs,” she said. “So this is a game where people who might not necessarily get in, in a real close game, can get some more time and make us better somewhere down the road.”

College Park (0-6, 4-18) was led by Meya Hadnot and Katie Gunther with 13 and 10 points respectively. Hadnot hit 7-of-10 free throws and Gunther added 6-of-8 from the line and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Cami Shafer finished with five points and Candace Goady added three points and five rebounds. Karley Shafer, Valerie DiGuilio, Jewels Campbell and Andrea Velez scored two points apiece. Hayley Fitzpatrick scored one point and Claire Salander hauled in six rebounds.

The Lady Highlanders host Oak Ridge (2-5, 12-13) at 7 p.m. Friday while College Park visits Bryan for a 7 p.m. Friday clash.