All season the Lake Highlands Wildcats have made a habit of playing to the level of their competition.

Playing up to the level of the state’s 3rd ranked team, Garland Lakeview Centennial, was a tall order, but in the early going of last night's bi-district match-up, the Wildcats appeared up for the task.

In an early season match-up, after storming back from being down by 10 points with 2:00 remaining, the ‘Cats nearly stole a win from the Patriots with a last second shot by senior forward Aaron Mazibuko.

The ball didn’t bounce in the ‘Cats favor that night, and the Patriots left the gym with one of their 27 victories on the season.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, last night's rematch was eerily similar.

While LH was the clear underdog last night, ‘Cats head coach Rob Wylie appeared to prepare his team well.

In early going, the ‘Cats made mince meet of the Patriots famous press defense and at the end of the 1st quarter found themselves leading the game, 23-18.

While the ‘Cats had the lead, for anyone paying attention, there was an ominous sign glaring from the scoreboard.

Team fouls heavily favored the Patriots. While the ‘Cats had 7 fouls, the Patriots only had 1. Frankly, the refs seemed to swallow their whistle the entire first half while the Patriots played a nice game of football with their press defense.

Regardless, the ‘Cats handled the Patriots 2nd quarter run well and went to the locker room trailing by only 4 points, 36-32.

Not unlike the 1st match-up of the season, the Patriots appeared to make several adjustments at halftime and came out in the 3rd quarter with something to prove.

After slicing apart the Patriots press defense in the 1st half, the Wildcats began the 3rd quarter with four consecutive turnovers, which enabled Garland to score nine unanswered points within the first minute of 2nd half action.

With junior guard Toddrick Gotcher leading the way, Garland kept the heat on the ‘Cats as the Patriots took a commanding 22 point lead with 2:48 left to play in the 3rd.

Coach Wylie needed a spark and found it in a bench full of underclassmen.

“We needed to stop the bleeding, and the guys came in off the bench and provided a spark,” Wylie said after the game. “They’re always ready to play and that was the case tonight.”