Early foul trouble got Highlands off on the wrong foot in a 47-38 defeat at North Rowan in the second round of the NC High School Athletic Association 1-A state playoffs.
Highlands used multiple players to try to slow down the Cavaliers ultra-quick guards in the opening moments of the game.
“We hadn’t seen that kind of quickness all season, and it’s just something we can’t simulate in practice,” Highlands head coach Brett Lamb said. “We wanted to slow the game down and focus on executing our offense. I thought we did a good job of that, we just never got that key basket to give us the lead.”
The home team built a 30-24 lead at the halftime break.
Highlands was able to cut into the advantage but never drew even.
“At one point in the third quarter we cut it to two points, and we had a chance to make a shot and take the lead, but we couldn’t get over that hump,” Lamb said. “If we could have gotten the lead I think we could have put some pressure on them and maybe the outcome would have been different, but to their credit they made a couple of baskets and kept us at arms length.”
North Rowan benefited from a half-court buzzer beater to end the third quarter. The Cavaliers were able to maintain the lead thanks to a deep backcourt that featured multiple ball handlers.
“They had 3-4 girls that could really take care of the ball and that made it hard to press them late in the game,” Lamb said. “We’d make a shot and they would run their offense and answer with a basket. It was a lot of back and forth.”
Highlands finished the season with a 19-7 record and finished as Little Smoky Mountain 1-A Conference champions.
“Overall for the season, I am really proud of the girls,” Lamb said. “I felt like we got better as the season went on and when we ran into adversity they did their best. It was never a question of effort, they played hard all year.”