The Highland Rams battled the Olympus Titans tonight. Although the Rams had a substantial defense they lacked in overall energy and the final score was 75 to 54.

The Titans’ defensive pressure seemed to put a halt on Highland’s offense. This was surprising considering how well Highland has been offensively thus far in the pre-season. The Rams had a difficult time making it on the scoreboard and at the end of the first quarter Highland was down 19 to 4. The Titans’ pressure never let up but the adjustments Highland made in the second quarter proved to benefit the team’s offense as they closed the gap to a 9 point difference at halftime. Although Highland came out at the half with renewed spirit, they were unable to bridge the early lead Olympus had established in the first quarter. Highland needed to improve their rebounding and transition defense in order to stage a comeback. The gap that Olympus had created in the first quarter stayed though, and grew in the third, as well as the fourth, resulting in a 21 point defeat.

At halftime the Rams were hopeful that they could control the tempo of the game and put themselves in a position to close out the game.

“It was an A point game after a rough first quarter. We really thought that we could come back,” Ryan Lambson said.

Although Highland initially came back from the half hopeful, the Titan’s lead never let up and the boy’s seemed to lose the energy they came out with.

“We wrote one word on the board which was pressure. We came out and we didn’t do a very good job of it,” Rick Schmidt said

Pressure was a key word in the game. In pressuring the Titain’s offense they were able to make the persistent gap smaller. But the pressure that never let up from an early lead seemed to have a direct result on Rams loss of energy.

Overall, the boy’s team seems to have some work to do with regards to coming out with, and sustaining better energy. This will result in grabbing more rebounds, playing with better defensive pressure, as well as a more precise offensive execution. This will help them control the tempo throughout the game, which they struggled to find tonight. The boys play Judge on Friday and are eager to make the changes necessary to get the win.