One might think Lake Highlands didn’t put up much of a fight in losing both playoff games to Belton, 5-1 and 4-1. One would be wrong.
That was a powerful Belton team Lake Highlands faced in the regional quarterfinals, one accustomed to thrashing opponents by lopsided scores. LH, a fourth-place team out of 9-5A, impressed Belton by giving the Tigers more of a challenge than they’ve faced in a while.
Read this quote from Belton star Shane Hoelscher in the Temple Daily Telegram:
“They [Lake Highlands] really kind of kept our sticks in check,” Hoelscher said. “They always had enthusiasm. We’re usually a team that gets that enthusiasm and kind of steals it from them, but we really didn’t with this series. They did a good job trying to fight back in.”
Both of the game stories in the Temple paper, Thursday’s Game 1 and Saturday’s Game 2, described how pressure-packed the series really was for Belton.
Not bad for an LH team making its first playoff appearance since 2006. Getting three rounds deep in the playoffs was further than any Wildcat team had since the 2002 team reached the regional semifinals (four rounds deep). Interestingly, that was a third-place LH team in 2002, which proves, just like in 2010, that district finish isn’t always indicative of playoff performance.
