In a pair of defensive matchups, the Highland Christian boys came up short, 31-19, Dec. 8, and the girls lost 37-31.

While the results of both games were the same, Highland Christian was forced to play catchup in the boys game, and charged with trying to mount a comeback in the girls contest.

“When we were aggressive, we made hoops,” said head boys coach Bobby Griffin. “But it took us a while to get used to game speed.”

The Highland boys had difficulty staying with Grace Academy, particularly senior sharpshooter Garrett Weinberg.

The Eagles scoring threat hit three of his four three-pointers in the first half, sending his team out to a 19-10 halftime lead.

“We know where we have to start and what we have to work on now,” Griffin said, alluding to better team defense and settling down before shooting.

While scoring was a challenge with opening game jitters for the Knights, junior forward Calvin Wold had no problem against the Eagles defense, scoring 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

“He was really demanding the ball from his teammates and it was nice to see him attack the basket with the ball, and when getting rebounds,” Griffin said.

Grace took advantage of Highland’s in-game inexperience with a 1-3-1 zone.

“I kind of figured they’d come out with that zone, and we just have to get used to that sort of thing in game,” Griffin said.

In the girls game, the Knights started off with an 8-5 lead to end the first quarter, but saw Grace capitalize on second-chance points — most of which stemmed from Eagles senior Lauren Krumm, who pulled down 28 rebounds en route to her 16 points.

Grace scored 11 straight points on a run that lasted more than six minutes to take a 16-8 lead and never looked back.

The change in momentum could be attributed to Grace’s full-court defense that pushed guards into traps at the corners around the halfcourt line. Those traps resulted in a number of turnovers and fastbreak opportunities for Grace.

Leading the way for the Knights was Jade Olin, who scored a game-high 17 points