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By Brian O’Shea, Plateau Daily News
Highlands varsity boys basketball team lost the Little Smoky Mountain Championship on Feb. 22 to Hiwassee Dam with a final of 58-40. This year’s tournament was hosted by Blue Ridge Early College.
Highlands Landon Green sinks a layup against Hiwassee Dam in the LSMC Championship hosted by Blue Ridge Early College on Feb. 22.
Highlands Coach Kaitlin Bishop said the Highlanders struggled to make some stops against Hiwassee and needed to do more on the offensive end.
Highlands Kasen Mitchell drives along the baseline against Hiwassee.
“I felt like all night we struggled to score, at times it felt like we couldn’t buy a basket,” said Bishop. “We got a lot of looks but just couldn’t get them to fall. The boys played hard until the end. Our effort was there, the cards just weren’t in our favor.”
Highlands Harrison Gates sinks a free throw during the LSMC boys basketball championship hosted by Blue Ridge Early College.
Highlands made it to the tournament championship after defeating Nantahala in the first round on Feb. 20 with a final of 51-36.
Highlands Bryan Jarquin drains a 3-pointer.
“We struggled early in the game offensively and Nantahala came out shooting the ball really well,” said Bishop. “In the second half our goal was to buy in defensively and be more selective on the offensive end. We got some big stops early on and become more patient offensively to pull away in the end.”
Highlands Isaiah Vilardo sets up on defense against Hiwassee Dam.
Despite earning second place in the conference, the Highlanders did not qualify for the state playoffs this year. To make the playoffs, you either have to win the conference or qualify through the rating percentage index (RPI), which Bishop said they missed by a few spots.
Highlands JD drives to the basket and scores a layup.
Bishop added that Highlands faced some challenges this season due to injuries, but made significant improvements and grew as a team.
Sportsmanship, awesome. Highlands Kasen Mitchell isn’t kneeing the downed player in the arm, he’s untangling from the mess that they both went down in. Looks odd in a still pic.
“Playing with low numbers can be tough, but one thing this group did was they always gave effort, no matter what the score was, the boys never quit,” said Bishop. “As a coach, giving effort is something you can’t teach, and that says a lot about the boys’ hearts and character. I am thankful and blessed that I had the opportunity to coach this group of boys.”
Pictured at the top of the article is Highlands Paolo McRae driving to the hoop and scoring a bucket.
Highlands boys junior varsity team did not fare much better, losing to Hiwassee Dam in the championship 42-13, also on Feb. 22.
Highlands Aiden Jenkins scores a layup during the LSMC Boys JV Basketball Championship hosted by Blue Ridge.
Highlands Pierre Damian splits Hiwassee defense and scores 2.
Highlands Chase Kenter picks off a Hiwassee pass and brings it back down the court.
Highlands Wyatt Wilson works for position and snags a rebound against Hiwassee.
Highlands Jack Sumner keeps the pressure on Hiwassee during the LSMC JV boys championship.
Highlands Aiden Jenkins brings the ball coast to coast and puts 2 points on the board.
Highlands Bryan Jarquin on a fast break against Hiwassee.
A Highlands High School cheerleader practices a stunt before the boys varsity championship, she’s about15-feet high standing on her teammates below.
Highlands Jack Sumner scopes out Hiwassee’s defense and calls a play.
Highlands Wyatt Wilson scores a layup.
Highlands Chase Kenter drives to the basket and scores 2.