On Monday night, the Highlanders traveled to Herndon for a 7:30 p.m. game against the Hornets. Their fast paced offense and strong ball movement led them to a 59-45 victory to move to an 11-10 record on the season. Senior guard Max Mullen was perfect from the free throw line and nailed clutch threes throughout the game.

“I feel like we pushed the ball up really well today, so that helped us get a lot of easy buckets in transition,” Mullen said.

Herndon came out of the gates aggressive through their relentless attack and quick drives. After the 1st quarter the Hornets held a 16-12 lead, and the Highlanders needed to make adjustments.

“First quarter I thought we came out a little lackluster with not a lot of energy and urgency,” head coach Mike O’Brien said. “Then from that point on I thought we stepped up our defensive effort which usually leads to us playing better on offense.”

The Highlanders came out of the first quarter with a sense of urgency which led to them getting quick transition buckets to tie the game 18-18 with 3:52 left in the second quarter. The rebounding and defense was exceptional to end the second half for the Highlanders. At the buzzer of the half, Mullen nailed a three to put the Highlanders up 25-20.

“From the very last play of the second quarter to the start of the third quarter Max Mullen hit three threes in a row so that’s a big nine point swing right there,” O’Brien said.
The Highlanders continued to dominate from three point range throughout the third quarter with threes from Mullen and junior Jake Bell. After three quarters of play, the Highlanders were up big making it hard for the Hornets to come back in the fourth despite a brief surge from Hornets senior guards Tobin Haire and John Callow.

“Haire and Callow were their main scorers so we really tried our best to close out on them and box them out as much as possible,” Mullen said.

In the end, the defensive pressure and fast paced offense of the Highlanders could not be contained by the Hornets. The Highlanders will look to continue this momentum in their next game against Langley and into playoffs as they search for their first ever state title.

“We will look to improve on our consistency,” O’Brien said. “Not having a first quarter like this where we get behind and we don’t come out ready, having a consistent effort from beginning to end.”