Slow Start Dooms Highland against East

The Highland Rams suffered their second region loss on Tuesday, losing to East 72-61. The Rams started slow for the second game in a row and were down 24-9 and were down 17-2 at one point in the first period.

But, after this slow start the Rams won the last three quarters. But, the hole they were put in after their slow start was too much to overcome at the end. East had a well balanced attack with Dacian Spotted Elk scoring 20 points as well as Blake Hansen and Hayden Banz each contributing 14 points. Highland was led by point guard Brevin Elsholz who scored 18 points and Jayden Palauni who had 14.

“We tried to shut down Dacian and let the other guys get more involved but those other guys made more shots than anticipated,” Palauni said.

Highland seemed out of their groove last night with miscues on offense that led to easy transition buckets for East on the other end. The Rams gave East many different looks on defense but none seemed to be able shut down Spotted Elk and the fast paced East attack. It was obvious that the Leopards wanted to get out and run and turn good defense into transition offense.

East managed to contain Highland Senior Rick Schmidt who has been consistently scoring in double figures this year.

“We had no energy at the beginning of the game and that killed us in the end,” Schmidt said.

Highland had their opportunities to cut the East lead, but every time it got within single digits, East had their own answer and made a big shot that killed Highland’s momentum.

Both schools brought large crowds to the game but after the fast paced first quarter, there was not much excitement to cheer about.

Looking forward, Highland is still in very good position in Region 5. Even though they were lesser team on this night, Woods Cross lost as well which means they are still tied for first place in the Region.

“We can’t let this loss turn in to multiple. We need to forget this game and move on to the next,” Palauni said.

In Region 5 there hasn’t been a dominant team and it seems that on any given night anything can happen. The Rams can’t afford to have any bad losses as they look to finish in one of the top spots in the Region.

Highland is back in action on Friday, February 5 against Bountiful at Highland.