Lady Highlanders basketball takes a step forward, but two back

The West Milford High School girls’ basketball team lost to Pequannock in an away game on Saturday, making it two losses and a win for the week.

Pequannock came out of the gate strong Saturday with a 17-6 first quarter before the Lady Highlanders were able to tighten the gap in the second, making the score 25-20 at the half.

The Panthers, however, would outscore West Milford in both the third and fourth quarters for the 47-35 win.

Senior forward Ashley Jacobs led the Lady Highlanders in scoring with her 10 points, while junior guard Rory McCormick wasn’t far behind with seven.

Going into Saturday’s game, West Milford was coming off of a win over Passaic Valley, its seventh win of the season.

That Feb. 13 game was a fairly close contest throughout, until the Lady Highlanders exploded for a 15-2 final period en route to the 55-31 win.

McCormick led the way with her game-high 26 points, most of which came on her seven 3-pointers.

Jacobs added another eight points and sophomore Rachel Chandler chipped in with seven of her own in the victory as well.

The win over Passaic Valley followed a home loss to Lakeland in which West Milford couldn’t overcome a dominant 20-5 second quarter from the Lancers.

The final score was 54-37.

The Lady Highlanders (7-13) were looking to get back in the win column on Tuesday, when the team was scheduled to take on DePaul at home.