Highland Rams Aim to Win

By Tyson Peterson | [email protected]

Sugar House - It was a close game as the Highland Rams took on Murray High School on Jan. 2. Losing by just three points with a score of 60-57, the Highland boys basketball team stood at 5-6 in the preseason. 

The Rams boys basketball team had wins against Park City, Wasatch, West High School, Skyline and Judge Memorial, with their biggest win being against Judge Memorial with a score of 90-67. 

“As a captain, I just expect my team to go out and play as hard as we can. Our goal is to leave it out on the floor every game. Murray is a good team. We knew it was going to be a challenge,” team captain Rick Schmidt explained after the game.

“Brevin Elsholz, our point guard, did a nice job of facilitating the offense for us. Jayden Brown hit a big 3 for us late in the game. It helped that I was feeling it throughout the game,” Schmidt said.

One key player that the Rams were missing was Ryan Lambson, a senior point guard. Lambson averages 1.3 assists per game, 2.5 rebounds per game, and 7.4 points per game. Lambson also plays football.

“We’re hoping to get Ryan back next Friday. If we can keep this consistent effort up, we will be in good shape. Getting Ryan back will help us even further,” head coach James Boyce said. 

 “We beat Bountiful in our first region game Tuesday and played great. Bountiful was riding a 49 game home region win streak dating back to 2014. They have owned the region for the last two years and were back to back state champions. It was a very difficult place to play. We won 70-61 and played great. We had five guys in double figures with Rick leading the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds. We also went 29/34 from the free throw line with Elijah Shelton, Will Trice and Brevin Elsolz, Jayden Paulani, and Eian Brightwell hitting some really clutch free throws down the stretch,” Boyce said.

 “It took the preseason for us to figure out who we are as a team, and where our strengths lie. It was rough having one of our leading scorers, Ryan Lambson, go down with a knee injury. Expect more wins in the regular season.” Scmidt said.

“Rick is important moving forward, but if we can have balanced scoring and a great defensive and rebounding effort like we did, we will have a shot in every region game we play,” Boyce said.

The Rams have many goals they want to accomplish this season. 

“Personally, I want to help give our team a chance at success – night in and night out. Whether that takes snatching more rebounds, scoring or finding teammates for buckets. As a team, we aim to win the region, and find success in the state tournament.” Schmidt said.