A win evades Highline in the final minutes of a 66-64 defeat to Centralia and a loss to a crafty Clippers team, 65-49, keeps Highline stuck in No. 7 as season ends next week.

Last Wednesday on the road, a second half comeback backed by a career-high 25 points from Nic Hogan was not enough for Highline as they fell to the Trailblazers, 66-64.

Highline was off to a good start, winning the tipoff to go on an 8-0 scoring run within the first five minutes of the game. Combined buckets from Centralia’s Adrian Brown and Bryce Cline sparked an 18-0 scoring burst from the Blazers to steal the lead at 9:53. The Trailblazers were looking confident on their homecourt as they headed into the halftime leading 31-21.

After the Blazers went up by 13 on a layup and free throw by Juelz Mendoza at 17:43 of the second half, the Thunderbirds battled back to get within 53-52 after two free throws from Nic Hogan at 5:37. However, Centralia kept pushing ahead and two from behind the line by Deshawn Keperling widened the scoring gap 66-61, making a T-Bird comeback near impossible despite a three-point buzzer beater from Ricky Bell to close out the game, 64-66.

Nic Hogan’s 25 points and 11 rebounds resulted in his third double-double of the season, first one in conference play, and a near career-high in points per game. For the night, Hogan shot an efficient 10-15 from the field and 5-10 behind the line. Freshman Rayven Turner added 16 points on 6-14 shooting inside and a pair of threes.

The Thunderbirds returned home on Saturday to challenge No. 5 South Puget. 

The Clippers defeated the T-Birds 65-49 after capitalizing on Highline turnovers to net 28 points and swinging the ball strategically with 20 assists to Highline’s two.

The first minutes of the game brought two ties and three lead changes which is where Highline held their largest of three points with 18:56 to go. Balanced scoring from South Puget starters and an additional nine points from their bench allowed smooth sailing into halftime with the Thunderbirds trailing, 36-20.

In the second half, Highline slimmed the lead to 42-36 after a layup from Jacob Labounty but the Clippers wouldn’t allow them any closer. With 1:45 to go, South Puget built their largest lead of 18 and sailed away to win, 65-49.

The Thunderbirds are winding down to a week left of the season consisting of two home games and one away.

Last Wednesday, Highline hosted 0-9 Tacoma with results unavailable at press time.

On Saturday, the Thunderbirds will travel south to challenge No. 1 Lower Columbia. The match begins at 5 p.m.