SPARTA — A halftime challenge from coach Mike Hoyng was just what the Highland boys basketball team needed Saturday night.
The Scots had jumped on Cardington early, but watched in the second quarter as the Pirates closed the gap back to seven points. Hoyng challenged the Scots to play better defense in the second half and the team responded, opening the lead back up and cruising to a 68-51 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference victory.
“In the second quarter, I was a little disappointed with our defense. We challenged them at halftime and they did a much better job,” Hoyng said.
“We were only down seven at halftime. If we could get it back to three or four, we’d be in it,” said Cardington coach Troy King. “We tried to put a little more pressure on them and hoped they didn’t get hot with the threes, but they made four. That set the tone.”
A couple of 3s from Zach Hilborn may have set the tone for the Scots (5-0 overall, 3-0 MOAC), but it was a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer by Wayde Looker that put a dagger in the hearts of the Pirates (2-4, 2-2). The Pirates had just missed a basket with a few ticks left, Highland got the rebound and Looker drained the long-range jumper as the buzzer sounded. It put the Scots up, 48-35, heading into the final quarter.
“That was a possible five-point swing. That really changed things,” King said.
From there, the Scots were able to put the game away at the free-throw line, making 7-of-8 in the final few minutes.
“We shot our free throws well. I was very impressed,” Hoyng said. “It was just another great team effort. We had a lot of kids step up and do a great job. That’s what this team is built around.”
Three-point shooting helped the Scots open up a quick lead in the game. Highland made four of its nine treys in the opening period to grab a quick double-digit lead. Cardington went to a zone to stop Highland’s outside shooting, but that’s when Kiefer Hinkle took over inside. Hinkle scored six of his eight points in the second quarter as the Scots opened a 13-point lead.
Cardington was able to find the defensive magic late in the quarter, though, closing the gap to just seven points at halftime.
But, Highland was able to open it back up in the second half and pulled away for the victory.
“I thought the big thing was we came out and finished the game. In the second half, we came out and did a good job,” Hoyng said. “We’ve got good depth, which allows us to stay after it.”
Justin Howard led the Scots with 23 points, while Hilborn added 11 points and three assists. Hinkle and Ryan Barnett added eight points, while Steven Stooksbury had four points and eight rebounds.
Cardington was led by Dylan Johnson, who had 22 points, and Riley Thomas, who added 14.
“They held Riley to about eight under his average. They did a nice defensive job on him,” King said. “Their leadership came up big at the end of the game. They did what they had to do to win the game.”
Highland made it a clean sweep on the night with a 37-33 victory in the junior varsity game. Nick Godfrey scored 14 points to lead the Scots. Garrett Ulrey added eight, while Clay Chipps and Ethan Zuber both had six. Cardington was led by Ben Burkhardt’s 11 points and Cody Hess’ eight.
The Scots be off for a while before participating in a holiday tournament on Dec. 30. Cardington will host Centerburg on Dec. 29.
