Highlanders learning on the job

The Eureka Springs Highlanders aren’t the kind of basketball team that’s capable — yet — of overcoming big deficits.

So, when the Highlanders fell behind by double-digits at the beginning of Tuesday night’s 2A-1 conference game on Life Way Christian’s home floor in Centerton, it was too much to overcome.

The Highlanders settled down after stumbling out of the gate, but the Warriors made the big early lead hold up for a 71-60 victory.

“We got down 11-1 right off the bat,” Eureka Springs coach Brian Rambo said Wednesday. “I called a timeout, then right out of the timeout we turned it over and they got a layup and it was 13-1 and we were three minutes into the game. Then we settled down and played. We got it to five in the fourth quarter, but during that stretch in the fourth quarter I had four sophomores out there. You can’t just expect, with the youth that we have and the lack of size that we have, we can just go out and make up those kind of deficits.”

Rambo said he’s hopeful that the loss will serve as a lesson for his team.

“It’s a good learning point for us,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to go out and control those things. Their crowd got into it and their kids got into it. It could have gotten out of hand pretty quickly.”

The Highlanders’ potential is promising as a talented sophomore class gains experience and senior Michael Lester continues to have a solid season. Eureka Springs showed off a balanced offense in the loss to Life Way Christian, led by 16 points from sophomore Kenner Leavell. Lester added 14.

“Guys are able to score the basketball and make shots,” Rambo said. “We’ve just got to get past those youth mistakes. … But we’re competing. The kids are enjoying it. They’re still working hard. We know there’s some wins out there for us.”

Eureka Springs lost to Yellville- Summit 60-31 on Friday, Dec. 15, in Yellville.