Lions end four-game skid with commanding win over Highland

By Giovanni Coronel
Posted 1/16/25

LONE TREE

On a night where Lone Tree celebrated its 1985 undefeated state championship team, the Lions cruised to a   victory over conference rival Highland.

Snapping a four-game …

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Lions end four-game skid with commanding win over Highland

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LONE TREE

On a night where Lone Tree celebrated its 1985 undefeated state championship team, the Lions cruised to a  victory over conference rival Highland.

Snapping a four-game losing streak, Lone Tree (3-6) captured a 77-53 win over the Huskies (1-7) on Dec. 7.

For the third time this season Lone Tree eclipsed 70 points with the 77 they scored against Highland being a new season high.

“Offensively, we really just tried to get into a flow and by that flow, we’re trying to get every guy involved,” Lone Tree head coach Jonathan Chaney. “If every guy’s touching the ball in our offense, that means we’re running through our offense and we’re getting quality possessions, so we’re really emphasizing having quality possessions.”

Catching the offensive flow early, the Lions jumped out to a 21-4 lead in the first quarter. Lone Tree defense also proved to be stout early on, limiting the Huskies to 21 first half points.   

“We knew kind of what Highland brought tonight, and we worked in our zone defense against them,” coach Chaney said. “That was one thing we were really trying to do, is be aggressive in our zone defense, force some turnovers. We’re hoping that forcing turnovers would lead to points, and it did in that first half.”

Lone Tree’s lead grew to as large as 34 early in the fourth quarter, a testament to how well they were playing on both sides of the ball. Highland ended up scoring a quarter high 21-points in the final frame, but it was not enough as the Huskies’ losing streak extended to four in a row.

Leading the charge on offense for the Lions with a career night was Reece Holbrook. The junior scored 26 to go along with five assists and four steals.   

“On offense I’d highlight Reece Holbrook. He ended up with 26, which is a new career high for him,” coach Chaney said. “He made 11 two-pointers tonight and if you look at Reece last year, he was mainly just a three-point threat, so he’d really been trying to stretch his game out and tonight he really put everything together.”

For Highland they were led by a 21-point performance by Bryce Hazelett. Teammate Louis Horak collected a team high 11 rebounds while fellow senior Logan McFarland nabbed a team best four steals.

 

Columbus 57, Lone Tree 53

The Lions went on the road with an opportunity to secure a season sweep over a conference opponent, but it was Columbus who emerged victorious at home over Lone Tree to avenge its earlier season loss.

These two teams were nearly evenly matched at the half with Lone Tree clinging on to a two-point lead heading into the third quarter. The third is where the Wildcats made their move, out scoring Lone Tree 17-10 to take a five-point advantage. 

In the final frame Lone Tree put together a valiant effort with a quarter-high 18 points but it was not enough as they eventually fell by four to Columbus who broke a three game losing streak with this win.

Up next for Lone Tree (3-7) is a home conference game against Wapello (0-11) on Jan. 17.

 

HIGHLAND 53, LONE TREE 77

Highland    15    6    11   21   -- 53

Lone Tree   23   13   23   18  -- 77

Highland leading scorers: Bryce Hazelett 21, Logan McFarland 10, Landon Roling 6

 

Lone Tree leading scorers: Reece Holbrook 26, Emmett Burke 20, Cade Willoz 19

 

Highland leading rebounders: Louis Horak 11, McFarland 6, Roling 4

 

Lone Tree leading rebounders: Willoz 9, Burke 5, Holbrook 5

 

LONE TREE 44, COLUMBUS 51

Lone Tree  14   11   10   18   -- 53

Columbus  11   12   17   17  -- 57