The Highland Hawks won against the Desert Ridge Jaguars last Tuesday with 61 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. Highland walked away with a 61-52 win over Desert Ridge. Given Highland's advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 23rd, while Desert Ridge is ranked 140th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Highland to victory, but perhaps none more so than Grady Crandall, who scored 17 points along with seven rebounds. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Crandall has scored all season. Ty Crandall was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with six rebounds.
Despite the loss, Desert Ridge still got an impressive performance from Payton Lapping, who scored 19 points along with seven rebounds. The team also got some help courtesy of Zy Fuentes, who scored seven points along with five assists.
Desert Ridge struggled to get the ball back on offense and finished the game with only three offensive rebounds. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Highland pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.
Highland's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 18-6. As for Desert Ridge, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five games, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-16 record this season.
Highland will look to defend their home court on Thursday against Desert Vista at 7:00 p.m. Desert Vista has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 1,157 points over their last 17 matchups. As for Desert Ridge, they will head out on the road to take on Corona del Sol at 7:00 p.m. on Monday. Hopefully Desert Ridge focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 12 on Friday.
