If there’s one thing fans learned at Saturday’s game, it’s that nothing motivates a team to win more than a comeback.
The Highland Rams took on the Bountiful Redhawks at the Huntsman Center on February 24th.
Despite the struggles in the first half, the team pulled away with a win of 65-59 and will advance to the semifinals.
After watching a season of Highland dominate team after team, the first half for Highland was not the team fans were used to.
Head coach Chris Jones watched as the team struggled with turnovers and missed shots throughout the first half.
“Well we were a little soft and we were a little timid. And we were a little like, ‘the moments too big for us’,” Jones said.
Highland was completely unlike their usual selves.
However, the players were still focused and didn’t let the mistakes shape the game.
Captains Matt Lambson and Grayson Gaddis knew they just needed time to get comfortable. Then, the usual Highland team would start to show.
“I was still confident because I knew it would take us some time to settle in with the nerves in the bigger arena,” Lambson said.
At half, the team was down 26-38, one of the bigger leads another team has had on the Rams this season.
The numbers didn’t scare anyone, though. The Rams knew they were still in this game.
“Once we settled in, and just started believing in each other, we were fine,” Gaddis said. “At halftime, we were all really calm, we knew we were going to come back.”
The second half team was completely different than the team playing before. Everyone was more confident on the ball and it started to show in the numbers.
Third quarter ended with a score of 44-45 for Bountiful after Highland held them there to create a much closer game than before.
“I just told them if we get the lead and just get going a little bit, then we’ll be fine,” Jones said.
The Redhawks also started to play differently: much more panicked than before.
It was the Rams game for the taking.
“I could tell they were giving in,” Gaddis said. “Their body language just started to fall.”
With a minute left in the game, Bountiful still had a lead of 57-58 until sophomore Isaiah Drisdom hit a three.
From then on, Highland continued to dominate the court creating a safer gap between them and Bountiful.
“I just felt like we were the better team the whole time, we just needed to settle in,” Lambson said.
The game was full of nail-biting, beating hearts, and lots and lots of stress, but ultimately, Highland proved that no lead is too big to top.
“You’re just on cloud-nine a little bit. I just am so happy for them. For the kids. They work so hard, put in so much time, have all sacrificed,” Jones said. “It was just so fun to watch them.”
Highland hasn’t seen a semifinals game since 2016, but coming up on Tuesday, Highland will play the Olympus Titans to determine who gets a shot at state.
