Area high school basketball teams saw their seasons come to a close with playoff action Thursday and Friday. The Highland Husky girls were one of those teams, falling 58-54 to North Cedar Thursday in the first round of the Class 1A Region 7 tournament.

Highland rallied from an early one-point deficit to take a 30-24 lead into halftime, and the Huskies were still up by five entering the fourth quarter. But North Cedar finished the game on an 18-9 run to steal the victory.

Senior Sara Burton led Highland with 18 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Junior Katie Herrig added three made three-pointers on her way to 13 points and nine rebounds, while senior Stella Slaymaker had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards, but it was not enough to keep the Huskies from ending their season with a record of 14-7. In addition to Burton and Slaymaker, Highland will be losing seniors Kerra Longbine, Kelsi Cerny and Kylie Allen.

The Columbus Wildcat boys also had their season end Friday with a 65-52 loss to New London in a Class 1A Substate 5 play-in game. Despite another strong effort from senior star Tim Hills-Carrier, Columbus finishes the season with a 4-18 record. In addition to Hills-Carrier, the Wildcats will be graduating senior Luis Cruz.

The Keota Eagles also had their girls’ basketball season draw to a close Thursday with a 50-37 defeat at the hands of English Valleys in 1A Region 8 first-round action. Keota kept things close early, trailing only by two points after one period and only 24-23 at the half. But a 15-5 run to start the second half would put English Valleys in command, and the Eagles could not rally to keep their campaign from ending with a mark of 6-14.