If the Highland Hornets were feeling good off their 54-30 takedown of the Del Norte Knights last Tuesday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Highland was dealt a 79-49 loss at the hands of Eldorado on Wednesday. While losing is never fun, Highland can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 48th, while Eldorado is ranked eighth).
Rebecca Neal and Breanna Payton certainly did their best on Wednesday to try and avoid the loss. Neal scored 12 points along with nine rebounds, while Payton scored 17 points. Payton continues to roll, besting her previous point total in each of the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Alison Ryan, who scored ten points.
Highland struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Eldorado racked up 11 assists.
It was another big night for Bella Hines, who shot 6-for-8 from deep and dropped a double-double on 40 points and 11 rebounds for Eldorado. That makes it 14 consecutive games in which Hines has scored at least a third of Eldorado's points. Chioma Holyfield was another key contributor, scoring seven points along with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Highland now has a losing record at 7-8. As for Eldorado, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 11-3 record this season.
Highland will head out on the road to challenge Manzano at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Manzano is out to stop a four-game streak of losses at home. Eldorado will take on Piedra Vista at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
