Lake Highland built a big early lead and held on to score a 57-47 road win over Montverde Academy in a Wednesday night girls basketball showdown between Central Florida teams that both held national No. 1 rankings.
The Highlanders (11-0) jumped out to a 35-19 halftime lead with Eleecia Carter making four 3-point shots and scoring 17 points before the break.
A buzzer-beating 3-point shot to end the third quarter by Stefanie Ingram gave LHP a 46-32 lead through three quarters.
Host Montverde (13-1) closed that gap to 52-47 with a 3-point shot by Niveya Henley with a minute to go.