Highland Secures Win On The Road

Photo By Thomas Guzman

GILBERT– The fans were loud and the tension high from the get go for this conference matchup tonight where the Highland Hawks visited the Higley Knights. The Knights looked to prove themselves after a recent unexpected ranking from the AIA that placed them No. 38 in the Open Division and No. 17 in the 6A. However, they struggled to get past the Highland brotherly duo of senior guard Grady Crandall and junior guard Ty Crandall. Together the duo shot for 17 points in just the first half. When asked what aspect of the game led the Hawks to victory tonight, Grady said their perseverance. 

“We went through a little tough stretch there at the start, and it was close,” Grady said. “But we came in at halftime all together to know what we needed to work on, and came into the second half and we did it.”

On the other side of the court, Higley put up a good fight and came out strong in the first quarter.

Senior shooting guard Andre Tyler sank the Knight’s first three-pointer of the game. The score was 13-11 going into the second quarter, but in the end fouls were Higley’s biggest culprit. The score was tight until late in the first half when Highland secured enough free throw points to lead by 10 going into the second. 

Things still looked up for Higley as they secured a number of defensive rebounds to bring it downtown and take the score within three points. Although the Hawks soon found their momentum again, hitting field goal after field goal to make it 69-55 with two minutes left of play.

The Hawks outshot the Knights on the road with a final score of 71-62. Higley will look to rebound from this loss as it takes on Desert Ridge on Thursday. As for Highland who will host Queen Creek on Friday.