Highland Falls Short To Timpview

Highland’s Men’s basketball team came up short against the Timpview Thunderbirds this weekend in the semifinals of the state basketball tournament, losing with a final score of 59-49.  This was especially tough on the Rams who also lost to Timpview in the state semifinals for football.

The Rams were the underdog from the beginning of the game, with Timpview picked early on this season as one of the favorites to win the tournament, as well as star guard Ryan Lambson dislocating his kneecap in the previous game against Mountain View.  Containing Timpview was the name of the game for the Rams, holding the Thunderbirds to only 13 points in the first quarter.  Led by high scoring performances from Brevin Elsholz, Elijah Shelton and Rick Schmidt, with 20, 15 and 1o points respectively, the Rams only trailed the Thunderbirds by 3 at the half.  Hot shooting continued to keep the Rams in the game and going into the 4th quarter were only down 37-36.  The game got away from Highland in the 4th however, with Timpview outscoring them 22-13 as well as hitting some key free throws down the stretch which clinched the game for the Thunderbirds.

Even though the Rams fell to the Thunderbirds, Junior guard Charlie Gochnour did not feel that this season was one to forget.

“I thought the season was a success.  We proved a lot of people wrong by going as far as we did,” said Gochnour. “I’m so proud of the team and I’m grateful to have played with an amazing group of guys.”

Overall this was a very successful tournament for the Rams who were not pegged to progress past the first round.  The injury to Lambson also hindered Highland from progressing to the final where they would have faced eventual champion Olympus.