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Bountiful • It's not enough that the unbeaten Bountiful girls' basketball team is led by Kennedy Redding, perhaps the best center in the state.

The Braves (11-0) are also showing that if they can't get the ball to Redding, they can punish teams who are packing the inside by hitting from the perimeter.

That was never more evident than Friday night when the top-ranked Braves earned a convincing 54-39 victory over a fine Highland team that had lost just one game.

Redding was her normal dominating self, finishing with 23 points, including nine in the decisive third quarter when Bountiful broke open what had been a competitive game.

But the key might have been the outside shooting of guard Kassidy Larsen, who hit five 3-pointers on her way to a 15-point performance.

"I had a rough game Tuesday when we played Woods Cross," said Larsen. "So I went to my church and put up a whole bunch of shots to get my confidence back. I think that's what changed it."

Bountiful coach Joel Burton said the inside-outside game has been something his team had been good at this season with Jaimee Stahle, Amy Chidester and Larsen taking turns having big games.

"It's not always the same kids," he said. "Stahle is good, so is Chidester and you saw the kind of shooter Kassidy is. I don't remember her missing a shot."

This was not an easy game. Had Highland been able to hit a higher percentage of shots, the Rams (9-2) would have been right there. Led by 15 points by Nani Tonga and 12 by Finau Tonga, Highland battled back from a 19-8 deficit to trail by just four points in the second quarter.

But Redding scored the first seven points of the second half as Highland went cold. By the time the Rams scored their first bucket three minutes into the third quarter, they were down 35-20 and in serious trouble.

"We expected they would give us a good push from what we had seen and knew of them," said Burton. "They are playing well. ... They don't have the star power of [Maple Mountain's] Liz Eaton or a couple of girls on Salem Hills. But honestly, I've never coached against a team that passes the ball the way that Highland team did."

Burton doesn't think his team has played its best game yet this season.

"I still feel like we have a lot of room to grow and get better," he said. "We're not anywhere near the top of our game."

wharton@sltrib.com

Twitter @tribtomwharton