Basketball Game Preview: Highland Hornets vs. Grants Pirates

Highland is 9-0 against Grants since April of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The Highland Hornets will square off against the Grants Pirates at 7:00 p.m. Highland has insisted on making their lastthree contests complete nail-biters, turning in a record of 1-2 during that stretch of close contests.

Highland fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against Belen on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Eagles by a score of 68-65.

Despite their loss, Highland saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Owen Cheng, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 14 points and eight rebounds, was perhaps the best of all. The dominant performance gave Cheng a new career-high in boards. The team also got some help courtesy of Jerry Moody, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Even though they lost, Highland smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 11 offensive boards in three consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Grants unfortunately witnessed the end of their three-game winning streak on Friday. They were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 60-59 to St. Pius X.

Grants' defeat dropped their record down to 9-9. As for Highland, they now have a losing record at 9-10.

Highland was able to grind out a solid win over Grants in their previous matchup back in March of 2024, winning 61-50. The rematch might be a little tougher for Highland since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.