RIVERSIDE

A return from winter break meant it was time to ring in the new year for the Highland Girls and Boys Basketball teams as they met with the Columbus Wildcats in Riverside last Tuesday night. 

The Huskies had their minds set on shaking up the top of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North standings on the girls side of the doubleheader with Columbus sitting at the top of the division coming into the night boasting a perfect 7-0 in conference play. 

Shake things up the Huskies did.

Nursing a 45-42 lead with 42.3 seconds remaining, a Kelsi Cerny foul sent Wildcat star Lily Coil to the line where the lead was cut to a single point with two made free throws.

On the ensuing possession, Katie Herrig was fouled and sent to the line with 28.1 seconds left. Herrig missed both shots, opening the door for Columbus to take the lead. 

Once Columbus came down the floor, Coil pulled up from beyond the arc for what would have been the go-ahead bucket, but the ball bounced off the rim and went out-of-bounds. Columbus retained possession of the ball, and on the inbound, Coil tried for a running jumper from the free throw line that rolled out once again. 

Sarah Burton came away with a critical defensive rebound and raced down the floor as the clock ticked under ten seconds to play. Driving to the hoop, Burton’s layup missed off-glass to give the Wildcats one last shot to beat the buzzer. Ariana Vergara’s beyond half-court shot missed, and Highland put away Columbus by a final of 45-44.

“We are getting better balance throughout the team, scoring and stepping up in many different areas to alleviate some pressure,” Highland coach Jody Fink said about his team.

At half, Highland faced a six-point deficit, and started to fade behind by as much as 10 points in the third quarter. 

What made the difference, however, was stout free throw shooting by the always-reliable Sarah Burton and her teammate Stella Slaymaker. 

“It was a back-and-forth game overall,” coach Fink said. “We had a good third quarter where we were able to take advantage of the free throw line.”

Together in the third quarter, Burton and Slaymaker hit 10 total free throws to effectively erase the 10-point Columbus advantage. 

Burton finished with 18 points and 21 rebounds to cash in yet another double-double, while Slaymaker finished with one of her best performances of the season at 12 points and eight rebounds. 

“I am proud of the girls fighting through a rough game but still many areas we need to improve on throughout the game,” coach Fink said. 

Leading the Wildcats was Lily Coil with 15 points.

Another close matchup was in store for the boys portion of the doubleheader, as both Highland and Columbus came into the night each with only one win on the season.

However, it was the Wildcats turning in the victory at the end of the night, beating Highland 55-47 off the individually dominant performance by Wildcat Senior Tim Hills-Carrier. 

Much like the girls game, the boys game featured back-and-forth lead changes and momentum swings, but the difference was Hills-Carrier’s shooting nearly 63 percent from the field and almost 67 percent from three to rack up 26 points. 

In tight games, players that put-on performances like Hills-Carrier did make all the difference, which proved itself true in this matchup.

The home Huskies still found plenty of success in the loss from both Sophomore Bryce Hazelett with 13 points, and Senior Nicolas Oriano with 12 points. 

Juniors Ayden Havel and Logan McFarland each had six rebounds.