One of the bigger rivalry games this season for the Scotties happened Monday night in Ben Allen Field House as the Cavaliers of Johnson County came to town. A packed field house and a home court advantage couldn't get the Scotties over the hump as they fell to Johnson 47-63.
 
Neither team could get things going offensively in the first quarter and Highland took an early 10-9 lead after the first 10 minutes. Johnson came alive in the second and outscored Highland 18-14, hitting a three with .22 seconds left in the half to take a three point 27-24 lead into the locker room.
 
Highland never did find their offensive rhythm as they shot only 24% from the floor and 18% from three-point range and were held to their lowest point total of the season at 47.
 
Even with the shooting struggles, Highland managed to stay in the ball game only trailing by two points with 3:29 to play. A Johnson County jumper, layup and a three-pointer extended the lead to seven with 2:33 left and the Scotties couldn't fight back from that deficit. Johnson went on to win 63-47, serving Highland their second loss of the season and first in conference.
 
Only two Scotties scored in double figures on the night; Mariane Carvalho led the Scotties in scoring with 11 points, five rebounds and two blocks while sophomore point-guard Imani Simmons added ten points. Szonja Vukov, who found herself in foul trouble early, could never establish herself offensively as she was held to four points and eight rebounds.
 
The Scotties will host the reigning NJCAAA Div. II National Champions, the Kansas City Kansas Blue Devils, on Wednesday, January 25^th at 5:30pm