Highland cruises past Columbus

After a tough victory against Burlington, Notre Dame on Monday night, the Highland boys? basketball team was able to cruise on Tuesday.

The Huskies cruised into the winter break after a 78-42 victory over Columbus in their final game before taking two weeks off.

The victory puts Highland at 7-1 through the first half of the season, and after winning their past six, they are feeling good about where they sit.

?I don?t have a ton of long-term goals,? Highland head coach Marcus Hall said. ?To the team I pass along the message that we just need to play hard and work hard. It is what it is, and we have a 7-1 record. Everything we want is attainable. We are going to take some time off from our feet and hopefully put some more things in.?

Columbus fell to 0-7 on the season with the loss.

The Huskies were led by Tucker Hall, who notched seven 3-pointers in the victory for 21 points, while Trent Lasek picked up 14 points in the victory.

Bill Burton had 11 points to round out the Highland scorers in double-figures.

After Highland took a 10-9 lead in the middle of the first quarter, the Huskies went on a 28-0 run to put them in a good position for the game.

Columbus rallied with a 13-0 run in the second quarter, but a 47-23 halftime deficit proved too much to overcome.

The second-quarter run did provide concern for the Huskies, however.

?That?s something we addressed at halftime,? Hall said. ?Those lulls, regardless of score, can hurt us. They got a little run on us in the second quarter. I thought we played better in the second half so that didn?t happen.?

Highland and Columbus will both be off for two weeks. They will resume play on Jan. 5, when Columbus hosts Mediapolis and Highland travels to WACO.