Area bragging rights belonged to Highland on Friday when the Huskie basketball teams invaded Columbus Junction and left town with a pair of Southeast Iowa Super Conference victories. 

The Highland girls managed a season sweep of the Wildcats by building off a 35-15 lead and never looking back in a 64-35 win. Sarah Burton had an efficient night hitting 10 of 11 shots for a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds. Dani Laughlin added 16 points and five assists while Abbi Stransky had 15 points and five blocks. Lily Coil and Frannie Sosa recorded eight points a piece for Columbus. Highland improved to 9-9 overall and 8-6 in the SEISC. Columbus is now 3-15 and 2-12 in the league. 

The Columbus boys won the first meeting by 14 in December, but the road Huskies made it apparent early on Friday they would not let history repeat itself. They jumped out to a 17-4 advantage after one and had a monstrous 37-8 lead at the break with the pressure never coming off the Wildcats en route to a 56-31 final. Highland turned over Columbus 28 times with Chase Schultz leading the offense collecting 15 points. Kaige Vonnahme had 11, Trevor McFarland added 10, and Connor Grinstead registered seven rebounds. Highland Head Coach Bill Zywiec tells KCII Sports his team was balanced on Friday. “We talked about moving the ball more and not worrying about our stats. We definitely did just that. We found the open guy and they stepped up to make the open shot. Ten guys got in the game and everyone made a basket so that was great to see.”

The Wildcats were paced by an eight point effort from Oscar Alcala. The Huskies had a quick turnaround Saturday with a trip to New London (14-1) and fell to the Tigers 82-37. They are now 3-14 overall and 3-11 in the league while Columbus is 3-14 and 3-10 in conference.