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By Brian O’Shea, Plateau Daily News
Highlands boys varsity basketball team lost to Swain on Monday on the road ending in 59-50.
The Highlanders first played against Swain earlier this month and won an exciting game in overtime 67-59.
The fight to take it to overtime came down to the final seconds. Highlands was down by 3 points with under 2 seconds on the clock. Highlands needed to inbound the ball and get a shot off in time. It was the third attempt to inbound the ball, and everyone in the gym knew it was going to Highlands shooter Bryan Jarquin.
“Before the shot, I was mainly focused on staying calm,” Jarquin. “We had already tried to get the ball in two other times, so they knew it was going to me.”
Highlands Bryan Jarquin drains a 3-pointer against Swain at home on Jan. 9. At the end of this game, he scores a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to take Highlands to overtime.
On the third attempt, Highlands got the ball into Jarquin’s hands and he drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“Making the shot felt unreal,” said Jarquin. “I felt like my idol LeBron [James] when I made it.”
Highlands Coach Kaitlin Bishop said those are the moments you live for as a coach.
“I will be honest, some of it is just a blur, in the heat of that moment the adrenaline is through the roof,” said Bishop. “Our first goal was getting the ball in and then getting a shot off all with 1.9 seconds on the clock. Once you get the shot off, it’s a 50/50 chance. There are no words for the excitement and how proud I was of the boys for fighting till that last buzzer. As a coach, these are moments you live for!”
Highlands Paulo McRae on a fast break against Swain.
Highlands trailed Swain the entire game until Jarquin tied it at the end of regulation play.
“We started out really slow offensively,” said Bishop. “I stressed to the boys to keep taking the good shots we were getting but take them with confidence. We were down 25-7 at one point in the first half if I remember correctly and were able to cut it to 11 going into half time. I told the boys at half time our goal was to cut that lead in half by the 4th quarter and we would have a chance. We cut the lead to 6 going into the 4th quarter and were able to tie it at the end and finish it off in OT.”
Highlands Wyatt Wilson works for position to snag a rebound against Swain.
Highlands Paolo McRae scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds, Kasen Mitchell scored 15 points and had 12 rebounds, Bryan Jarquin scored 13 points, and Isaiah Vilardo scored 14 points and had 7 rebounds.
Highlands Carson Forrester drains a long jumpshot.
“We had a couple other players add in some points throughout as well,” she said. “I have said from the beginning of the season for us to be successful we have to have more than one or two guys scoring each game. When we get everyone involved offensively, that’s when our team is most successful.”
Highlands Cheerleaders keeping spirits high against Swain at home.
“Our defense played their tails of the whole game, in my opinion our defense and rebounding is what kept us in the game,” said Bishop. “We forced some big turnovers in the 4th and were able to score off them, which was huge for us in the end. Once we hit that big shot at the end to send the game to OT the momentum really shifted our way. I saw the confidence in our boys that I haven’t seen all year and I had a good feeling we were going to win this one in OT. Came out and scored 6 quick points in OT and really just took over. Ended up outscoring them 13-5 in OT. We had some transition points off of turnovers, were patient offensively and got some great looks we finished on and hit some big free throws at the end to seal the deal.”
Highlands Isaiah Vilardo lines up a shot against Swain.
Highlands plays against Nantahala tonight at 6 p.m. against Nantahala at home.
