Rams Cruise to 21-Point Victory Against Skyline

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Sydney Stam

Elijah Shelton splits the Skyline defense on the way to the rim.

Nathan Roderick, Sports Writer

This Friday night, the Highland Rams cruised to a 21-point victory against crosstown rival Skyline with a score of 62-41.

The Rams relied on stout defense and a well balanced offensive attack to carry them. Skyline struggled to score in the first half and were limited to 18 points in the first half and only seven points in the first quarter. Unforced turnovers and missed shots doomed the Eagles in the first half, resulting in a 19-point deficit at the break. Points seemed to be at a minimum for the Eagles but outscoring the Rams 13-9 in the third gave the Eagles some much needed momentum. Skyline cut it to a 12-point lead in the fourth but, Brevin Elsholz then took control in the fourth and finished with 16 points.Brevin

Jayden Palauni also contributed 12 points with two three pointers. Rick Schmidt, Ryan Lambson, and Elijah Shelton each had 9 points a piece to help the Rams.

A balanced offensive attack and stout defense that results in easy offense is a formula the Rams hope to continue.

“We really pushed the tempo and played fast and we attacked the rim the whole night and shared the ball,” Lambson said.

This defensive effort was especially impressive because Skyline has one of the top scorers in 4A in Austin Stevenson. Stevenson averaged 23 points before Fridays game which includes a 37-point performance last week.

“Our guards did a good job of taking away Stevenson and then it was up to the rest of us to limit their other guys to single digits and we did that. The results showed up big time,” Lambson said.

The Rams gave Skyline different looks on defense that seemed to get Stevenson and the rest of the Skyline offense out of sync. Stevenson was held to only 9 points and never looked comfortable on the floor.

After a poor performance in a victory against West on Tuesday, Highland bounced back quickly with this convincing win. The Rams hope to continue this momentum as another crosstown rival in Olympus comes to Highland on Tuesday December 15.