Coming off a bye week, the Highland Rams were ecstatic to get back on the court in a face off against the Viewmont Vikings in the second round of the 5A 2026 playoffs.
Viewmont, a team the Rams had previously beaten by more than 30 points, ended its regular season in the middle of the pack with a record of 11-14, while Highland was dominating at 20-3. But in the heat of the game, their records meant nothing.
Ultimately, the Rams defeated Viewmont in a 70-60 slug fest, but the victory wasn’t always certain.
This being their first playoff game of the season, the squad expected nerves and jitters, but they didn’t expect it to nearly cost them their spot in the playoffs.
On Friday the Vikings came into the game fiery, and hungry for a win. Playing very aggressive and intense ball, Viewmont was exceling at moving the ball around on offense and staying disciplined on defense. While Highland was the exact opposite. The Rams looked like a shell of their typical selves early in the game. The bye week proved to be an easy way to advance to the second round, but risky in the fact that Viewmont already had gotten the “playoff jitters” out of their system during their first-round matchup against Westfield High School. Feeling that pressure, the Rams struggled to finish in the offense and follow up their rebounds.
“We were a little nervous. We felt the pressure, and then we tried to do it all by ourselves,” Highland Coach Chris Jones said. “We weren’t passing the ball to each other, we weren’t sharing the ball, we were dribbling too much, and [we] had seven turnovers. Just uncharacteristic, that’s not what we do.”
Struggling to pull themselves out of this mental block, Highland ended the first quarter trailing, and the second quarter only got worse. Heading into halftime down by seven, the Rams were fighting for every ounce of motivation they could muster in order to earn the win.
Understanding that the boys didn’t need screaming or frustration from their coach, Jones offered a pep talk at halftime and ultimately pulled them out of their slump.
“I just told them to be us,” Jones said. “I didn’t yell at them, I didn’t get mad at them, just be who we are.”
Conscious that they still had 16 minutes to play, the Rams weren’t even close to losing hope.
Jumping into the third quarter, Highland quickly came back to life. Thanks to early points scored by senior Bodie Dodge, they were finally getting back into their regular groove. Focusing on shot selection and just trusting each other to take more shots that are open, the team was reminded of their reliance on each other that has been so apparent throughout the whole season.
After two consecutive three-pointers from senior Isaiah Drisdom, the crowd was riled, and the energy was higher than even before.
“We love it [the crowd],” senior Grady Lee said. “If we can feed off the crowd, then we play so much better.”
Rounding out the third quarter, the Rams had come all the way back and were now controlling the game with a 46-44 lead. Flying through the last eight minutes, Highland dominated the Vikings and scored a whopping 24 points with ease (which doubled their point totals for the first quarter).
By the end of the game, Highland was pulling away and earned the double-digit win. As the Black Hole chanted, “I believe that we have won!”, the Rams were ecstatic to see another day on the court and couldn’t wait to rematch the Woods Cross Wildcats in the quarterfinals at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Highland, both winning and losing to the Wildcats this season, hope to pull out another win and climb their way to the semifinals the following Thursday. Ensuring that they have shaken off all their nerves and jitters, Highland will do everything they can to prepare for their next game.
“Just keep practicing, and keep working,” Lee said. “Getting better every day and we’ll be ready.”
