The Highland Community College women's basketball team fell short of their National Tournament hopes after a 63-49 loss to Johnson County in the Region VI Division II Championship game Wednesday afternoon in Hartman Arena in Park City, KS.
 
The Scotties struggled to find the inside of the hoop shooting 1-9 from the floor and only scoring four points in the first quarter. Even with the offensive struggles, the Scottie defense picked up some slack and contained the Cavalier offense limiting them to just 11 first quarter points.
 
The second quarter saw the Cavaliers extend their lead to 10 points at two different points throughout the second quarter. A Blaize Burgess three pointer with :32 seconds left in the quarter cut the Scottie deficit to just seven, 26-19 heading into the locker room.
 
Johsnon County came out of the locker room strong taking a 16-point lead half way through the third quarter. The Scotties started to chip away and two Jameka Dowell free throws would end the quarter where it started, with Highland trailing by seven, 42-35.
 
A Mariane Carvalho three-pointer just 13-seconds into the fourth quarter would cut the Cavalier lead to four but four points would be the closest Highland could get the remainder of the game. Niccolly Ramalho hit a three pointer with 5:43 to go in the game bringing Highland back within four but that would go on to be the last three pointer made for Highland. Johnson would finish the game shooting 8-8 from the free throw line in the final 2:13 to seal the victory 63-49 and advance to the NJCAA National Tournament.
 
Mariane Carvalho and Blaize Burgess were the only Scotties that scored in double figures on the day. Carvalho finished with 10 points and seven rebounds while Burgess added in 10 points and four boards. Niccolly Ramalho finished with nine points, Szonja Vukov scored seven and Jameka Dowell put up six points, five rebounds and four assists.
 
Rebounding played a major factor in the game as Highland was out-rebounded by the Cavaliers 27-56, 19 of which were on the offensive end. Johnson was able to score 20 second chance points off offensive rebounds and another 13 off of Highland turnovers.
 
Highland finishes the year 28-4, another great year for the women's basketball program.