RIVERSIDE

Just 6 minutes remained in Highland’s boys basketball game against Columbus on December 17, and the Huskies were in trouble.

A 10-0 run by the Wildcats had put them in front of Highland by 18 points, 45-27.

And that’s when the Huskies, seeking their first win of the season, cranked their offense up.

An eight-point run in less than two minutes pulled the Huskies within 10 points, but Columbus was able to hold off Highland in the final minutes for a 56-42 win.

“We just got ourselves down too much there early,” said Highland head coach Bill Zywiec.

The loss was the sixth straight for Highland, which had a scheduled game last week against Louisa-Muscatine postponed and was to face HIllcrest Academy on Tuesday before breaking for the holidays.

“I feel like the kids are playing hard,” Zywiec said. “I tell them, we’re not making excuses, we’re not going to blame anybody else, we’ve just got to figure it out.”

Senior forward Chase Schultz was a force for the Huskies in their late-game comeback. He hit a 3-pointer in the 8-0 run. Then he hit another 3-pointer, followed by a basket in the paint to trim the lead to 47-40 with 3:05 left, finishing off a 13-2 Highland run.

At that point, Columbus coach Miguel Villagrana called for a timeout.

After that, the Wildcats held off Highland with defensive stops, a pair of free throws and three baskets. When Marco Martinez Jr. hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute left, he threw his arms up in celebration and danced downcourt as the Wildcats won for the second time in six games.

Connor Grinstead scored the only Highland basket down that final 3-minute stretch.

The Huskies’ late-game run, which brought the home gym alive with cheers, was encouraging for Zywiec and his team.

“The great thing about basketball is we have time to figure it out. If we can play with that energy, under more control, I still think we can have a decent team, decent season,” Zywiec said. “But we’ve just got to get little things figured out, fundamental things figured out.”

One of those fundamentals is free throw shooting.

“That’s tough,” Zywiec said. “When you get to the free throw line that many times and you only make four of them … that makes it a little tough.”

GAME STATS

COLUMBUS 56, HIGHLAND 42

Columbus          11     12      12      21    --  56

Highland      11      3      13      15    --  42

HIGHLAND SCORING: Kaige Vonnahme 9, Trevor McFarland 9, Chase Schultz 6, Connor Grinstead 5.

HIGHLAND REBOUNDING LEADERS: Grinstead 2, Vonnahme 2, McFarland 2, Tyler Thompson 2.

MEDIAPOLIS SCORING: Kadin Salek 14, Jackson Hutcheson 8, Elijah Grier 6, Ben Egan 5, Ryan Ensminger 4, Kamden Stotlar 2, Anthony Isley 2.