Highland Men’s Basketball Stretches Win Streak to Three
After dropping the season opener the Highland men’s basketball team has won three-straight including a pair of contests over the weekend playing at KCKCC as part of the Keith Lindsey Classic.

Scotties picked up an 83-75 win over Livin the Dream on Friday working to a 41-34 lead by halftime and using that lead to push them to the victory. Highland shot 43.1% from the floor and was 9-20 from three-point land while also going 24-40 from the charity stripe in the win. Jaquan Daniels paced the Scotties in the contest with 21 points on 8-11 shooting and added eight rebounds, while Ryan Haskins chipped in 18 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals. Stephon Jackson added 17 points, while Andre Jackson nabbed 10 rebounds and had five points.

Highland finished the weekend’s action by edging Link Year Prep 71-69 to win their third-straight game. Up by four points at halftime the Scotties had to hold off Link Year Prep the whole game to snag the win and they used a 78.9% (15-19) night from the free throw line to help secure that win, while hitting 10 three-pointers. Dontre English and Ryan Haskins each tallied 17 points in the win, while Andre Jackson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The win moves Highland to 3-1 on the season with a road contest at Wentworth Military Academy looming next on Tuesday.

Highland Football Falls In Final Regular Season Game
Highland football wrapped up the regular season on the road against Ellsworth falling in the regular season finale 31-20.

Ellsworth got rolling early taking a 7-0 on a 35-yard touchdown pass with 8:05 left in the first quarter. The Ellsworth Panthers lead grew to 14-0 on a short touchdown run and then 21-0 after cashing in on a short field from a bad punt from Highland.

The big play is what finally broke things open for the Scotties as Marquis Terry busted a 78-yard touchdown run with 11:39 left in the first half get Highland on the board but they still trailed 21-6. A one-yard touchdown run by Terry made it a one score game 21-14. Scotties forced a pair of turnovers in the final part of the second quarter and went into halftime down by just a touchdown.

Third quarter neither team visited the endzone but the fourth quarter things got interesting. Ellsworth fumbled and Highland recovered the ball on their own 45-yard line and the Scotties then hit a 55-yard touchdown pass to Bailen Brumfield to bring the Highland to within one-point at 21-20 with 14:44 left in the contest. Ellsworth answered with a touchdown to push the lead to 28-20 with 11:10 left and later added a field goal to be the final margin as Highland took the 31-20 loss.

The loss in the regular season finale moved Highland to 7-4 on the season and the Scotties also finish the regular season tied for second in the Jayhawk Conference. The seven wins mark the most in a season since 1994 for Highland. 

Highland Men and Women’s Cross Country Teams Compete at NJCAA Nationals
The Highland men’s and women’s cross country teams finished their season at the NJCAA National competition in El Dorado, Kansas on Saturday and notched 15th and 26th place finishes as teams.

The men earned 15th place as a team out of 40 schools posting the second best finish in school history and third Top 20 finish in the last four years. Jose Jaime led the way with a time of 26:24.48 to finish 40th. Jaime’s time not only ranks as a Top 25 time in Highland history but also helped Jaime become only the second NJCAA Division I cross country All-American in school history. Jorge Guerrero raced to 86th place out of over 300 runners posting a time of 27:19.63, while Zekarias Philipo (27:39.96) took 110th place, John Brunner (27:54.56) 127th place and Jordan Adams (28:05.38) 141st place. Isaiah Smith (28:29.81) and Cole Hinton (28:45.88) also ran for Highland placing 178th and 193rd, respectively.

The women notched a 26th place finish as a team out of 37 schools with Lakashia Willis leading the way placing 88th out of over 310 runners, posting a time of 20:11.90 which ranks at the 20th fastest time in school history. Ivanna Uribe placed 123rd with a time of 20:36.67 which also is a Top 25 time in school history for Highland, while Katie Corrigan (22:02.14) finished 215th, Gisel Santiago (22:12.95) placed 227th and Juliette Rios (22:22.23) raced to 232nd place. Kaitlyn Slagle (22:37.47) and Bailey Mistler (24:36.43) each finished 243rd and 291st.