The Highland Huskies pulled off a sweep of their rivals from Lone Tree Tuesday, taking the girls contest 61-46 and the boys contest 62-49.

Two teams at the top of the SEISC-North did battle in the girls game. The game proved to be a tough, physical battle, with plenty of whistles and plenty of trips to the foul line. That would prove to be a major factor in the game, with Lone Tree failing to convert multiple opportunities. The Lions went 5-19 from the stripe in the first half, and eventually finished 13-of-35 for the game. That left plenty of points off the board. Still, however, the Lions did enough to stick around, only trailing 26-20 at half.

However, in the second half, Highland started to pull away. Despite losing a bit of their previously tight handle on Lone Tree guard Finley Jacque, and losing the third quarter 16-14, the Huskies were able to counter with a 21-10 quarter in the fourth to take the game by double digits.

Head coach Jody Fink says his team had enough in the tank to overcome their rivals in Lone Tree. “It’s always going to be a battle for us with Lone Tree, and that just back and forth, it doesn’t matter what the records are or anything, it’s always a dogfight. And give it to them, and give it to Coach Shelman, he had them ready there and everything, it just came down to it, and we were able to pull it out.”

Highland freshman Kinzie Ruess dominated inside for 18 points, including 8 in the final quarter. Kamryn Fink had 11, and Emersyn Schultz had 10. Lone Tree was led by the senior trio of Jacque, Delanie Graap, and Ava Christofferson, who finished with 17, 12, and 10 respectively. Highland improves to 11-1, and have won 11 straight games. Lone Tree falls to 8-4.

The boys game saw two teams trying to gain positive momentum after a rough first half to the season. For about 28 of 32 minutes, the two teams traded blow for blow, with the Huskies building a lead only for Lone Tree to storm right back. However, despite Lone Tree erasing several double-digit deficits, the Lions rarely lead, and did not lead at any point in the second half. As players began to foul out late in the game, Highland seemed to hit a second gear. The Huskies, led by senior Bryce Hazelett, ran away from the Lions in the game’s final minutes, winning by what was their largest lead all night, 62-49.

Head coach Bill Zyweic says earning a win over a rival is good for the team’s momentum. “It’s a big rivalry game. These guys are all friends with each other. I know Coach Chaney very well. It was gonna be a fun game, so going into that, we kinda talked about being able to control our emotions, couldn’t be on a roller coaster, couldn’t be up and down, we just had to stay steady the whole game.”

Hazelett’s 19 led all scorers, but fellow Huskies Landon Roling (17), Jacob Schneider (11), and Kyler Fink (10) all reached double-digits for the day. Lone Tree’s Cade Willoz led the Lions with 12. Jackson Lyon added 10.

Highland improves to 2-8 for their campaign. Lone Tree falls to 2-8. Highland next travels to Hillcrest Academy on Friday, another doubleheader you can hear on KCII, while Lone Tree hosts Columbus on Friday.