High School basketball: Olympus gets defensive and locks down Highland for win

It's not everyday that an Olympus team known for its outside shooting can win a basketball game with one 3-pointer.

Then again, if the Titans can consistently defend and rebound like they did Tuesday against visiting Highland, they don't need to be a team that lives and dies from behind the arc.

Despite an off night from leading scorer Nicholas Paulos and most of the Olympus shooters, the Titans rolled to a 55-41 victory by stymieing the Rams defensively for all but a few minutes.

Olympus limited its opponent to six points in the first quarter, one in the third, and weathered a barrage of 3-pointers from Highland in the fourth quarter before pulling away down the stretch by making 14 of 16 free throws in the final three minutes.

"I was so proud of the way we played defense tonight. We got after them and defended them," said Olympus coach Matt Barnes. "I told my guys, enjoy the win, it's a great game it's a great rivalry, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us."

With the victory the Titans improved to 13-1 overall and 5-0 in Region 6. Highland falls to 8-6 and 3-2.

Neither team shot particularly well in the first quarter, but the Titans still built a 13-6 lead by crashing the offensive glass. Four offensive rebounds led to seven points in the first quarter, a theme that would continually bail Olympus out its long-range shooting struggles.

The Titans finished with 11 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points compared to five offensive rebounds and zero second-chance points for the Rams.

Ben Sonntag scored six of his team-high 14 points for Olympus on second-chance points.

"He's really coming into his own the last two or three weeks, the last three games especially he's been at least 10 boards a game and a monster inside," said Barnes. "He's figuring things out, he's a huge lift for us."

After making just two of its first 19 shots and falling behind 19-6, the Rams got hot in the final two minutes of the first half and whittled Olympus' lead to 23-18.

As quickly as Highland found that shooting stroke, it disappeared at the half. The Rams missed all seven field goals in the third quarter, turned it over six times and fell behind 36-19 after scoring just one point.