Girls Basketball: Huron rallies to knock off Skyline (see 60 photo gallery)

The Huron River Rats trailed host Skyline at halftime but turned on the jets and upped the pressure in the third quarter to bounce the Eagles 55-46 in an SEC Red showdown between city rivals on Friday night.

Reeya Patel scored all 12 of her points in the second half and Siena Smith scored a team-high 15 points for Huron. MiLisa Curtis scored eight points, Mckenzie Maciejewski scored seven and Jadyn Smith added five points for the River Rats.

Huron overcame a huge game from Skyline’s Janee Faulkner. The senior guard had 20 points to lead all scorers and kept her team in the game for most of the night.

Skyline’s Jillian Boynton, a freshman, scored seven for the Eagles.

The Eagles, who have struggled to put games in the win column, came out with energy and played a solid game from start to finish.

SEE WLAA PHOTO GALLERY – 60 PHOTOS

After Siena Smith tied the game at 3-3, Faulkner put the Eagles ahead 5-3. Smith nailed another triple to help give the River Rats an 8-5 lead after one quarter.

But the Eagles owned the second quarter.

A nice drive to the basket and layup by Maciejewski and basket inside by Curtis gave the visitors a 13-8 lead. But Faulkner scored inside to cut the deficit to 13-10. Faulkner scored again and then hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 14-14.

Chala House knocked down three free throws with no time on the clock to give Skyline a 17-14 lead at halftime.

But Huron went to work in the third quarter behind Patela and the Smith sisters.

Huron’s Siena Smith was named the Key Player of the Game by CTN.

After a layup by Faulkner pushed Skyline to a 19-14 lead, the River Rats went on a 19-3 run. Curtis got the ball rolling with a layup, followed by a basket bay Jadyn Smith and then another basket by Curtis pushed Huron into the lead at 21-20 with 5:30 left in the quarter.

Maciejewski scored to make it 23-20.

Faulkner scored to cut the deficit to 24-22 but Siena Smith scored and then Jayden Smith turned a steal into a layup to give the River Rats a 30-22 lead with 3:20 left in the quarter. Siena Smith scored again to make it 33-22.

Faulkner brought the lead back to 10 points at 37-27 and then beat the buzzer to make it 37-29 after three quarters.

But the River Rats were just too much in the fourth quarter. A layup by Patel gave the visitors a comfortable 52-35 lead with 4 minutes left in the game.

SEE WLAA PHOTO GALLERY – 60 PHOTOS

WATCH THE GAME REPLAY ON CTN