Photo by Corey Stolzenbach/The Herald
Junior Hadley Lytton makes a push towards the basket Saturday against Perry Central. Lytton had a game-high 23 points to help Heritage Hills to a 63-38 victory.. 

By COREY STOLZENBACH
sports@dcherald.com

LINCOLN CITY - Things didn't always go the way of Heritage Hills Saturday night - getting off to a slow start, and needing some things to work on, despite holding a halftime lead.

However, the Patriots (8-1) still enjoyed a 63-38 win in the final game of the Perry-Spencer Tournament against Perry Central. The Pats trailed early, 5-4, then went on an 11-0 run in the first quarter. Heritage Hills held a 31-18 lead at halftime, but coach Kim Brown wasn't satisfied.

"We had to pick up our intensity," Brown said. "We were kind of stepping off on defense, not playing the way we normally do. We had a pretty easy way this morning (a 92-13 win against Tell City), and I think it left over from this afternoon. And I just demanded more intensity."

The Pats began building steam out by blazing out of the gate into the second half. Senior Rebekah Gordon and junior Hadley Lytton have been catalysts for Heritage Hills many times in their high school careers, and Saturday was no different. Gordon and Lytton helped the Pats to a 6-0 run in the first 59 seconds, and extended the Heritage Hills lead to 37-18.

"That was the best stretch of the game, probably," Brown said. "They listened to me, and they followed through what we wanted to do, and it led to baskets."

"We really picked up on the intensity, and we're trying to work on our third quarter, coming out of the locker room, and being aggressive," said Lytton, who had a game-high 23 points. "We really put it to them, and got aggressive on defense from the beginning."

Gordon also finished in double figures with 22 points - just one behind Lytton - as the only two players to score double digits for Heritage Hills. The Pats also banked five shots from downtown - three coming from Lytton.

This game brought Heritage Hills its fourth consecutive victory, and will have a test ahead if it wants to win its fifth straight game. The Pats are scheduled Tuesday afternoon to play at Silver Creek, and will have to account for a pair of 1,000 point scorers in Alana Striverson and Jaclyn Emly, both of whom are also set to continue their careers after high school.

"It's going to be a challenge," Brown said. "We're going to be outsized at every position except Bekah's. There's going have to be a lot of help. We're going to have to spread out and try to cover all their length. They play a lot deeper on the floor because of their size capabilities. They can see over us a lot. So, it's going to be a lot of scrambling."