Basketball Recap: Highland Find Success

Highland won the last time they faced Carlyle and things went their way on Saturday too. The Highland Bulldogs slipped by the Carlyle Indians/Lady Indians 44-43. The win was all the more spectacular given the Bulldogs' disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois basketball rankings (they are ranked 146th, while the Indians/Lady Indians are ranked 26th).

Several Indians/Lady Indians players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Lera Schmeink, who went 5 of 11 en route to 14 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Sophia Hoffmann, who posted nine points and six boards.

Highland is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 11-12 record this season. As for Carlyle, their defeat dropped their record down to 17-4.

Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Highland will host O'Fallon at 8:30 p.m. on Monday. O'Fallon knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past six matchups -- so hopefully Highland likes a good challenge. As for Carlyle, they will have a little extra prep time after the loss as they won't be playing again for a while. They'll take on Civic Memorial at 7:00 p.m. on January 29th.