The Highline men’s and women’s basketball teams dropped two games after a Pierce raid and a Gator stomp-down in last week’s conference play.

Last Wednesday, the Highline men and women hosted Pierce at the Thunderdome for their home opener.

For the men’s team, Pierce capitalized on Highline turnovers, handing the T-Birds their first conference loss, 76-60.

The Raiders led throughout behind the leadership of sophomore Michael Ajayi. He scored 30 points on 8-12 shooting inside and 12-16 behind the line. 

At the start of the first, the score remained close with Highline trailing by two with 11:09 left. But Pierce gained momentum with a 9-3 scoring run to keep the lead 23-15. Highline ball handling errors stunted their ability to catch up and allowed the Raiders 11 points off 18 T-Bird turnovers. Pierce led 37-20 heading into the halftime break.

The Raiders carried their energy over into the second half. They amassed their largest lead of 28 points with 8:04 left, signaling a Highline timeout. After the timeout, the Thunderbirds caught new wind with a 21-9 scoring run. Despite trailing, Highline bested Pierce in shooting percentage for the half with 63.53 percent to 59.3 percent. The late Highline scoring burst wasn’t enough and the Raiders closed out the game, 76-60.

Highline’s Kanye Taylor led the team with 16 points, Marjon Bennett chipped in 11, and Nic Hogan added 10.

“We turned the ball over way too much against Pierce. It was that simple,” said Highline Head Coach Che Dawson.

Last Saturday, the Highline men traveled to neighboring 12-3 Green River. The Thunderbirds fell 84-48 against a balanced Gator performance.

Prior to the match, the Gators received league recognition with a No. 4 rank in the NWAC Coaches Poll on Jan. 10.

Within the first five minutes, the Gators made a mini scoring run of 6-2 including a dunk by Zane Foster to set the tone for the match. Highline struggled to sink their shots with a 35.5 true shooting percentage compared to the opponent’s 57.8 percent. The Gators out-hustled the T-Birds with 22 rebounds to Highline’s 15. At the halftime buzzer, Green River led with 43-23. 

The second half panned out in a similar fashion with the Gator’s continuing to run away. With 2:12 left, Green River gathered their largest lead of 37 points. The Gators closed out the match, 84-48.

Green River Freshman Isaiah Dahl had the hot hand with 22 points on 6-15 three-point shooting.

Freshmen Rayven Turner and Kanye Taylor added 10 points each for Highline. 

Now, the Highline men’s basketball team has an overall record of 3-13 and 0-2 in conference.

The recent losses have left the team frustrated, said Highline Head Coach Che Dawson.

“There have been way too many variables this season which has made it hard to gain traction. We are trying to learn the lesson of worrying about what we control which is our effort and attitude,” said Coach Dawson

“There are a lot of reasons we are struggling right now, some in our control, some not. But all of them are just excuses. I have to do a better job with our team to give us the best possible chance to win,” said Coach Dawson.

For the Lady T-Birds, their struggle to make buckets against tough opponents has also put them 0-2 at the conference start.

At the Thunderdome, Highline fell to Pierce 55-37. The Lady Raiders bested the Lady T-Birds in all statistical categories and led throughout the night.

In the first quarter, the Lady T-Birds were off to a cold start with 3-19 field goal shooting to Pierce’s 5-9. The Lady Raiders led 12-6. In the second quarter, Highline made a 6-2 run at the start to level the game 12-12 with 8:11 left until halftime. Pierce responded with a 10-0 run at 4:19, leveraging Highline turnovers. The Raiders led 27-17 at the halftime break.

In the third, Sarah Gatluak helped Highline spark a run by sinking seven points and a pair of threes from teammates Hi’ilani Aurai and Mahine Bergeson. The Lady T-Birds had 14 points to Pierce’s 11 for the quarter and trailed their opponent’s 38-31.

The fourth quarter is where Pierce turned up the heat offensively and Highline went cold again. The Lady Raiders shot 53.9 percent to Highline’s 23.5 percent and grabbed 12 rebounds to Highline’s five. Pierce went on to win the game 55-27.

Later in the week, the Highline women traveled to Auburn, WA for another conference header against Green River. The Lady T-Birds were swamped by the Gators, 67-27.

It was a balanced scoring effort by Green River with three players contributing double-digit points compared to an uncharacteristically low contribution from Highline.

In the first quarter, Highline made a slow start with a 34.6 shooting percent to the opponent’s 51.57 percent. The Gators led 21-12. 

The second quarter was nearly unprecedented as Green River made 15 points to Highline’s zero. The Gators led 36-12 at the halftime break.

In the third and fourth quarter, shooting struggles continued to thwart Highline and the Gators floated to victory at The Swamp, 67-27.

Green River’s Abigail Mundy led all players with 15 points on 5-9 field goal shooting and eight rebounds.

Next up for Highline basketball teams, the men have two conference games and the women have one scheduled this week.

On Wednesday, the men’s team hosted Centralia with results unavailable at press time.

On Saturday, both Highline teams will travel to Olympia to face off against South Puget Sound. Tip off for the women is at 1 p.m. The men’s match will begin at 3 p.m.