Lone Tree continues winning streak against Highland

By Giovanni Coronel
Posted 1/18/23

Now the winners of three games in a row Lone Tree was able to travel to Riverside and knock off conference foe Highland, completing a season sweep, with a final score of 75-39 on January 13.   …

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Lone Tree continues winning streak against Highland

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Now the winners of three games in a row Lone Tree was able to travel to Riverside and knock off conference foe Highland, completing a season sweep, with a final score of 75-39 on January 13.   

With this win the Lions elevate its record to 6-9 on the season and increase its conference play record to 3-7. After losing this game Highland drops to 1-11 on the season and remains winless in conference play with a 0-9 record.

In a jam-packed gym Lone Tree was able to quiet the Highland home crowd right away when freshman Emett Burke went on an individual 7-0 run. All the momentum was on the visiting team’s side and it was punctuated when Lone Tree senior Drew Gauley put the Lions up 12-0 on a fast break after stealing the ball.

Only scoring two points in the first quarter, courtesy of Highland senior forward Logan Bonebrake, the Huskies ended the first quarter trailing 18-2. 

Still disregarding Highland’s defensive efforts Lone Tree continued its impressive offensive onslaught by scoring 21 points in the second quarter. While Highland was starting to get a better rhythm offensively they only managed to put up seven points in the quarter before halftime. 

Coming out of halftime with a 30 point lead the Lions were met with some quality resistance courtesy of the Huskies. Highland was able to outscore Lone Tree, 17-15, in the third quarter. Not enough to close the point differential into a potential come from behind victory, but it showed the Huskies are still willing to give it their all even when trailing by a large margin. 

In the final quarter Lone Tree was able to match its point total from the second quarter and scored 21 points again. With 4:50 still left to be played in the game the Lone Tree starters were subbed out, with victory all but assured at that point. 

The Huskies were able to score double digits in the final frame of the game, 13 points, but the deficit from the first half proved to be too great to overcome and the Lions claimed a 36 point conference victory.

 

Lone Tree 82, Columbus 38

Starting off the week the Lions secured a lop-sided victory over fellow Southeast Iowa Super Conference member Columbus, with a 82-38 win on January 10. 

With this loss Columbus now own a 2-11 record on the season and fall to a 1-8 record in conference play. 

This was a rematch from a game that took place very early on in the season when Lone Tree was narrowly defeated by a single point. Hoping to avoid a season sweep from Columbus the Lions ended the first quarter with a 18-11 lead.   

In the second quarter Lone Tree put the pedal to metal offensively when they scored 25 points. Clicking on both offense and defense the Lions entered halftime with a 15 point lead. 

It was more of the same for Lone Tree on offense, scoring 23 points, in the quarter after halftime. In a far cry from the first game between these two teams, where Lone Tree held a three-point lead after three quarters played, the Lions went into the final quarter with a healthy lead of 66-33. 

Holding Columbus to its lowest point output in the final frame of the game, five points, Lone Tree was able to close out an opponent that defeated them before by a single point and leave no doubt who the better team was that night with a 44 point win. 

Lone Tree senior Tyce Alt was the leading scorer for the Lions with 23 points. Recording a double double on the night Alt was able to nab a team leading 11 rebounds, with six of them being offensive boards, greatly helping his team obtain the opportunity for second chance points.

The second highest scorer for the Lions was junior Ethan Bockelman with 12 points. Bockelman sank in two three-pointers to reach that double digit total and managed to grab eight rebounds. 

Staying at home, Lone Tree (6-9) faced fellow Southeast Iowa Super Conference member Hillcrest (7-5) on January 17. This was the second matchup between these two teams this season with Hillcrest, winning that game 78-48 on December 6, aiming for the sweep against Lone Tree.