SPARTA – The Highland boys basketball team rode the momentum of a Rider Minnick three-quarter-court 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter for much of the second quarter.
But visiting Horizon Science bridged halftime with a 23-4 run, which made the difference in a 60-48 victory over the Scots in non-league play on Monday, Dec. 7.
Horizon Science’s Hanid Muse led all scorers with 23 points and added four steals, three rebounds and a couple of assists.
He was backed by Ansoumane Oulare’s double-double. Oulare had 20 points, 17 rebounds and a pair of blocks for the Hawks (3-1).
“(Oulare) was out all last year with an ankle injury,” Horizon Science coach Robert Tate said. “Our school doesn’t have football, so he played for Northland and lost 15 pounds, which is making him more mobile. It’s made him more agile — he’s worked on his handles. He would go to football practice and still come to open gym and work out. So that really helped us out.”
Minnick scored all 11 of his points in the first half for the Scots (0-1). He led the team with five assists and added four rebounds and a pair of steals.
“It wasn’t really them — it was more us,” Highland coach Christian Toombs said. “First-game jitters, having seven or eight practices and only one scrimmage — we’re just still trying to find our rhythm.”
Highland surged on a 17-4 rally that was started with Minnick’s long 3-pointer to end the opening frame. The Scots went into the second quarter trailing 12-9.
“I thought we did a better job in the second quarter of attacking their pressure and finishing at the hoop,” Toombs said. “We were getting to the basket, but I thought in the second quarter we did a better job of finishing.”
Minnick opened the second quarter with a basket off a Landon Remmert feed, and Jordan Bellamy converted an and-1 to give the Scots a 13-12 lead, their first of the game.
But Muse and Oulare brought Horizon Science back before the break. Oulare hit back-to-back buckets to put the Hawks back on top, and Muse converted a 3-point play to send them to the locker room up 29-25.
“We don’t handle the ball very well and that’s one of the things we have to work on,” Tate said. “Once we handled (Highland’s) pressure, I felt like we got into cruise control and we were a little bit more comfortable. We also know that they’re a good shooting team. They’re a very physical, well-coached team.”
Horizon Science led by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter before Brock Church hit a pair 3s and Bellamy added a third to help Highland close the gap.
“I thought our guys did a great job of sticking in the game mentally,” Toombs said. “In years past, I know we would have had some trouble with that. We did a great job of fighting through and doing what (the coaches) were asking. We just needed to do a little bit better of a job to close that gap.”
Garrett Fitzpatrick had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Bellamy added 11 points and four rebounds for the Scots.
