The Sterling Tigers lost against the Highland Huskies back in January of 2023, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Friday. Sterling took a hard 65-51 fall against Highland.
Despite the loss, Sterling still got an impressive performance from Ethan Thyne, who dropped a double-double on 13 points and 20 rebounds. The matchup was Thyne's eighth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Dayten DiOrio, who scored 13 points along with six rebounds.
Even though they lost, Sterling were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 23 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Highland only pulled down 13 offensive rebounds.
Highland's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Sawyer Morgan led the charge by scoring 19 points along with eight rebounds and four blocks. That makes it three consecutive games in which Morgan has scored at least 25% of Highland's points. Tanner Fabrizius was another key contributor, scoring ten points along with eight rebounds.
Sterling's loss dropped their record down to 5-3. As for Highland, they pushed their record up to 5-2 with that victory, which was their 14th straight at home dating back to last season.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Sterling's road trip will continue as they head out to face Valley at 7:00 p.m. on January 9th. Valley will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Colorado Rankings (they are ranked 303rd, while Sterling is ranked 141st). Highland won't have much time to rest: their next contest is against Y at 4:00 a.m. on January 6th. Y is coming into the game hot, having won their last five games.
