Highland boys? basketball team wins at Mid-Prairie

The Highland boys traveled to Mid-Prairie Monday, Jan. 2, taking part in a nonconference game and returned home victors as they defeated the Golden Hawks 66-48.

The Huskies got on the board first with a Chase Rath bucket. Mid-Prairie would respond with a basket from Caleb Statler to tie the game.

The two teams would battle back and forth the remainder of the quarter with Highland having a one-point lead at the end, 14-13.

Highland would hold onto their lead in the second quarter and would extend it after a Bill Burton steal early in the quarter followed by another layup for two points from Trent Lasek after a steal.

Mid-Prairie would score a total of 11 points in the quarter, while Highland added 22 to have a 36-24 lead going into the break.

Coach Marcus Hall said the one-point lead after the first quarter isn?t something he likes to see.

?In the second quarter, our defensive energy and presence really stepped up. We got on transition as we are tough and have good versatile ballplayers.?

After the break, Highland would double their points in the third quarter while holding Mid-Prairie back to only four points, giving the Huskies a 48-30 lead after the third.

Mid-Prairie would start off the fourth quarter strong putting up seven right away, and would add another 11 before the game ended, but Highland would answer back by scoring an additional 18 points to get the win.

Highland maintins their winning season, now standing at 7-0. Mid-Prairie falls to 2-6.

Hall said of the win that the team looks at each game individually.

?All of our guys know that you are only as good as your last game. Our record at this point means that we can accomplish some goals that are in front of us. That?s it.?

One part of the game, especially in the fourth quarter, there were many fouls. That is not something Hall likes to see.

?We want to keep the game up and down and have a nice flow. When we were breaking down the good team defense, we fouled. Once we got back to the better defense in the fourth, things looked a lot better.?

With this being the first game after the holiday break, Hall is pleased with the team?s performance.

?It?s a road win. For stretches we played really good basketball. There was a stretch at the beginning of the game and at the end of the third quarter where we really bogged down with sloppy turnover and missed free throws, but when we put it together, we look pretty tough.

?It?s a nice win for us and we look to move on down the road and hope to continue to play well.?

Tonight, the boys play at Wapello. Hall says there will be one thing the Huskies need to do.

?We have to guard. They have some good back-court players. I think the highest scorer in the league plays for Wapello, so it?s about team defense and making sure we don?t give them any early confidence.

On the other end, we have versatile skilled players, so sharing the ball is a step to guard.?

One of the better players in the game was Burton Hall says. ?He really stepped up on the defensive end.

?I thought our guards did a good job of making good decision for a big percentage of the game.

?Our team defense, at times, is very good. We made them take tough contested 2-point jump shots. That?s what we want to do so we can clear it.

?One thing we will address is the rebounds. We gave up a lot of them tonight, so we are going to work on that heading into tonight?s game.?