Highland Bulldogs’ banner season was the best for fifth-year coach, departing seniors

Highland basketball Coach Deryl Cunningham’s fifth season leading the Bulldogs was arguably his best and the best for the program in years.

Highland went 21-13 this winter, finished second in the Mississippi Valley Conference race and won its first regional championship since 2011.

Cunningham was very pleased with the season turned in by his players.

“Our strength of schedule was third in the state and during that time when you win and lose games it can be hard to keep kids (focused),” he said. “You can lose kids during that time, but our guys did a really good job of hanging in there during the whole season and I think we did well in a difficult situation.”

The Bulldogs struggled early in the season losing five of their first seven games. Cunningham attributed the tough beginning to a combination of a hard early schedule and the players getting a feel for each other.

“I don’t think it was so much of a slow start because we opened up with a win against SLUH, but during that 2-5 start we played Mascoutah and Belleville East, and I think the kids were just learning each other,” Cunningham said. “As a staff you’re figuring out who are we and what works and so forth. There’s new (player) identities almost every year.”

In late January, thing finally began to click for the Bullodgs, who overcame an 11-point halftime deficit to knock off Class 4A power Collinsville for an exciting 62-57 overtime victory on the road Jan. 23.

Cunningham cited the win as the spark that got the club believing it could have a big season.

“It was huge and I told the guys that we’re gonna go in there and swing away. Collinsville was No. 1 at the time and they had not lost any home games and they’re a very good team,” Cunningham said. “It was great for the confidence so they can see that hey we can compete with the biggest schools in the area.”

The Collinsville win put Highland on a strong final push to the playoffs with wins in 7 of its last 8 game heading into the Class 3A Freeburg regional tournament in late February.

Bulldog starters Grant Fleming, Garrin Stone, Braxdon Decker, Trey Koishor, and Jake Ottensmeier all stepped up with big efforts down the final stretch of the regular season.

“The starting five was huge for us and our guys off the bench and I think everyone had game where they stepped up,” Cunningham said.

Ottensmeier, Stone, and Fleming carried the scoring load for Highland, averaging 14.5, 11.8, and 9.8 points per game respectively.

In the Freeburg Regional, Highland beat Waterloo 53-36 in the semifinal round on Feb. 21.

Two days later, Highland got its breakthrough against Mascoutah, knocking off the Indians for the first time in three games with a thrilling 47-45 win for the program’s first regional championship in 13 years.

“We’re always right there with them but it’s always been tough to get over the hump,” Cunningham said. “We felt if we kept our kids on the floor the whole game and out of foul trouble that we thought we’d be there the whole game and fortunately we got the win. To get it done in a regional championship game was huge for our program.”

Highland had the season ended in the Class 3A sectional semifinals on Feb. 27 as Ottensmeier injured his ankle in the fourth quarter against Centralia and the Bulldogs wore down in overtime dripping a 60-52 decision to the Orphans which ended their playoff run.

The loss to Centralia, which had beaten Highland by 20 earlier in the season, ended what turned out to be a bannder season.

“We lost Jake at the end of the third quarter which was huge for us but for our other guys to step up and show a lot of resilience in the fourth quarter and overtime. I’m very proud of our guys and we did everything we could to try to get the win,” Cunningham said.

The starting backcourt of Ottensmeier and Koishor, both seniors, will be missed. The duo kept the Bulldogs steady during the season on both ends of the floor.

“Jake’s been a four-year starter for us and a guy that’s always been offensively talented. Over the four years he’s become a guy we could pout on the other team’s best player defensively,” Cunningham said. “Trey played his sophomore year and missed his junior year and is a true point guard that has stepped in to bring a lot of leadership. He’s tough as nails off the ball, taking charges and making plays for others.”

While Ottensmeier will move onto to play baseball at Eastern Illinois this fall and Koishor will go onto college as well, the Bulldogs will return some experience with Fleming, Stone and Decker back in the fold for next season.

“Grant Fleming, Garrin Stone, and Braxdon Decker certainy steeped up in the sectional, so we know what they’re expected to bring next year,” Cunningham said. Carter Holthaus, we know he’s capable of shooting the basketball and scoring some points and wait and see what guys like Will Jansen and Macklin Bellm can do next season,” Cunningham said.