Highland’s Trey Koishor hit one foul shot with five seconds still showing to keep it a one-possession game, but Brock Fearday’s last-second three-point attempt was off target, securing the three-point victory for Highland.

“We had plenty of opportunities in this game,” Rincker noted. “Highland is a strong, disciplined, well-coached team, with shooters across the board. Anytime we had a slight error on defense, they took advantage. They either got to the basket or hit shots. It seemed like they hit every shot they took.”

Highland did shoot well. They made 17-of-30 attempts, a 57 percent clip. They shot 70 percent from behind the arc, drilling 7-of-10 from long range. They were also 15-of-19 from the free throw line.

St. Anthony trailed by a slim 12-10 margin after the opening eight minutes. But Highland closed the first half on a 10-2 run to take a 29-17 advantage to the locker room at halftime.

The lead fluctuated between 8 and 12 points throughout the third quarter and until St. Anthony made its comeback in the fourth period. St. Anthony got within eight points once and seven points on another occasion. It seemed like the Bulldogs were only another shot away from putting pressure on Highland. But it didn’t happen until that quick scoring surge in the final period.

“I don’t know if you could go anywhere in the state and have the number of quality teams and the amount of depth you have at this tournament,” Rincker said. “Every game feels like a championship game. It’s tough competition and you better come ready to play.”

Fleming led Highland and all scorers with 22 points, while teammates Braxton Decker and Jake Ottensmeier both added 10.

St. Anthony had two players in double figures. Brock Fearday led the way with 19 points and Westendorf scored 16. SAHS shot 52 percent overall, making 22-of-42 shots. They were 4-for-11 from three-point range and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.

“Overall, I was very pleased with how we played in this tournament,” Rincker said. “We learned we need better ball security when we have the basketball, we need to come out with more urgency at the beginning of games and we need to make shots consistently. We also learned we can play a couple different styles. This tournament gave us an opportunity to learn all that.”

St. Anthony finished 2-2 in the tourney and is now 12-4 on the season. They will return to action January 2 with a non-conference game at Robinson.