Tied at 63 with less than 10 seconds to go, Highland walked away with a win as Cole Adamson nailed a 3-pointer.

The Huskies had tried to have Mason McFarland take the final shot, but it was just short off the rim. Highland had Derick Sandburg in position to make the offensive rebound. 

“I saw Mason put up the shot, and I believe in Mason a lot, but I saw it going short. It hit the perfect spot on the rim and I had position on the (Winfield) kid and outjumped him. I saw clapping his hands open so I hit him then he hit the shot,” Sandburg said.

Adamson was open on the second chance and with time winding under five seconds hit the shot to give Highland the 66-63 lead.

“If you want full honesty it was one of those shots where you just know it is going in,” Adamson said. “If I could explain, it felt like 10 seconds in three. Everything was just so slow motion. Big thanks to Derick Sandburg for the board because that doesn’t happen without him.”

The Huskies were put in that situation after falling behind early to the Wolves. Winfield-Mount Union got strong performances out of three seniors Christian Gerot, Daunte Oepping and Jared Arnold. The three combined 55 of 61 points for Winfield-Mount Union.

The Huskies were down two at the half 29-27. A back-and-forth third quarter had Winfield-Mount Union at a three-point lead. The game continued to stay close and eventually Adamson’s 3-pointer gave Highland the win.

Adamson had 23 points on the night going 9-17 from the field. Zack Lasek added 17 and Mason McFarland had 15.

Highland 69, Danville 57

Highland’s offense exploded in the second half behind 29 points from Mason McFarland in a 69-57 win over Danville.

The SEISC crossover matchup last Thursday was close throughout the first half. The two teams traded blows with each team going on a 12-0 run in the first half.

After halftime, the Highland offense came out with a purpose. McFarland said that came out of Highland’s adjustments to the Danville defense.

“They are very quick on defense and rotate really quickly on passes. So we tried to get it to Zack a lot more and get all eyes on him,” McFarland said. “Then when we bounce it out we are able to swing it so the guards aren’t tipping our passes and we can get into different positions on the court.”

The inside-out play for Highland in the second half allowed them to go on a 8-0 run to start the half including a layup by McFarland, Sandburg cutting the basket for two and Zack Lasek with a pair of jumpers.

The Huskies grew their lead to as large as 11 in the third quarter, but it was reduced to four with 1:37 left in the quarter. McFarland sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

In the fourth, the Huskies held Danville to 13 points and hit their free throws down the stretch to get the win.

The Huskies went 8-12 over the final three minutes of the game from the charity stripe and 17-25 in the game to get the 69-57 win.

Highland 53, Columbus 20

The Huskies easily dispatched a winless Columbus team 53-20 to head into the break with a 7-1 record.

Columbus didn’t reach double-digits in a quarter during the game and was held to just two points in the third quarter. Highland forced 19 turnovers in the game.

The win brings the Highland win streak against Columbus to 16 games.

Heading into the break the Huskies are at the top of the SEISC North with a 5-1 record in division play. The Huskies lone loss was to Pekin. They will get a chance to avenge that on Jan. 21. Lone Tree and Pekin each have one loss in division play.