The Lady Rams playoff game against Woodscross began with a wonderful signing of the National Anthem by both the players and the fans, after which the ball was tossed in the air and Highland started the game off right with a tip-off win. Throughout the game the Rams were mostly the dominant team, scoring a strong number of 43 points to secure their first playoff win this year and beat Woodscross by 10 points by the time the final buzzer rang.

The first quarter was dominated by the Lady Rams, as Woodscross was only able to score 2 points. In the beginning, the Wildcats gave Highland two easy fouls which gave the Rams a 2 point lead. Then, Kaija Glasker released her inner beast. By the time that the quarter ended, Glasker had scored 6 points on 3 awesome drives to the basket. Her example helped Highland play even better as the game progressed. 

“When I get going like that, I feel like my teammates follow my lead and bring the same energy that I feel at that time,” Glasker said when asked how she influences her team for the better.

After a great first quarter, the Lady Rams looked to keep up that pace through the rest of the half. The second quarter started with quite the opposite though as neither team scored any points for nearly 5 minutes. But once Glasker put up a layup with a free throw as well, the team started to feel their rhythm once again. Highland scored consistently and ended on a crazy rebounded layup to beat the buzzer by Sose Langi to make the final score of the first half 21-6 with Highland in the lead.

While there weren’t  any performances by the Highland Cheer or Pep Club during halftime, the crowd was entertained by an assortment of shooting by young fans of the court. Most of which missed the basket drastically, but every once in a while a half court shot was made, followed by a burst of cheers.

The Wildcats came back to life in the third quarter, scoring double the points they had during the whole first half in the first few minutes of the quarter. Woodscross was looking for three pointers, and for a while their plan was working. But this didn’t mean that the Lady Rams would be silenced, as they worked hard to make baskets of their own. Through a combined effort of all Highland’s players on offense and defense, the Rams were able to hold the Wildcats to 13 points in the quarter and increase their own score to 35. 

In the final quarter the Rams just needed to finish off what they started. And so they did. Through many of Woodscross fouls and shooting attempts by Highland, the Lady Rams were able to hold the Wildcats back until the very end and get the victory in the playoffs.

While this win was very important, Highland knew they have to keep working hard in order to keep up this kind of performance, and that means outplaying their opponents on both sides of the ball. Glasker and all of her teammates have realized this to be true.

“The main factor in our win tonight was definitely our defense. Defense wins championships, so if we keep this up we can beat anybody,” Glasker proudly remarked. 

If the Highland Lady Rams keep up with the way they are playing, they have a great chance of winning at State. 

Be sure to make it to their next game against Salem Hills on Tuesday, February 25th at 9:10 pm to support the Lady Ram’s in their playoff push!