Our boys came up a little short on Friday night to lose the championship game to HighMark 59-48. Trenton Harris had 20 points and Elijah Harper had 14 points to lead the Hikers in the game. The boys finish their season up with a 12-2 record. One of the best season’s Highland Boys Basketball has had in several years.
As their coach, I am so proud of the effort and commitment they put in throughout the year. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of boys to get work with in my final year of coaching. These kids did everything I asked them to do day-in and day-out. I can’t say how much I appreciate the way they won in class and loss in class, and represented Highland Junior High.
I thought the final game was a great game played by both teams. We got in a little foul trouble in the 3rd quarter, and it hurt us. I had to sit some guys during this time, and HighMark was able to cheap away at our lead during this time. Down the stretch we had our chances but just missed some shots. Number 12 for them came up big. My hat goes off to him. He made some big shots in the second half, while we missed some easy ones.
Overall, I am pleased with the season. We went 12 and 2 on the year, with our only two losses against teams that start 9th graders. In both games, especially the championship, this killed us on the boards. I got on our little 7th and 8th graders to box out the best they could, but both losses the size and strength of the other teams’ 9th graders wore us down. I cannot say how proud I am of the kids and their improvement throughout the year. Some of these kids I have only had in the program for 1 year, where these charter schools may have had some of their players for 3 years in their systems now. This makes a big difference in how deep you can go into your coaching styles with your players. Our kids can hold their heads high. We won and loss with class.
