Huntington High (2-2) played better Friday than it did Thursday in a 58-45 loss to Fairland, but still fell to an Ohio Division II team, losing 48-47 to Cincinnati Taft in the opening game of the Ironton Classic at Ironton High School's Conley Center.
Mikal Dawson, who scored a game-high 23 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and made 5 steals, missed a 3-point shot long in the closing seconds. Bryce Damous rebounded and went for a put back, but his shot was hard and the Highlanders couldn't get off another shot before the buzzer sounded.
Dawson's and Damous' misses were not the reason Huntington High lost. A more-pertinent cause was found in its 19 turnovers, 12 in the first half. Those miscues led to the Senators (1-2) taking a 29-22 lead into halftime.
"We have a lot of work to do," HHS coach Ron Hess said. "Our guys are really just learning our system. They're finding what we're trying to do. It's going to take a while for us to gel."
Huntington High, the defending Class AAA state champion and No. 1-ranked team in West Virginia, hadn't lost two in a row since falling to Morgantown 65-62 in the 2015-2016 state championship game, then to Fairland 71-65 in the 2016-17 season-opening contest. The Highlanders hadn't been beaten in back-to-back games in the same season since 2015 when they fell to Hurricane 66-65 on Feb. 13 and 62-60 on Feb. 21.
Huntington High nearly pulled out the victory against a talented and physical Taft team that was led by 5-foot-10 senior guard DaShawn Lawrence's 20 points and 6-5 senior forward Mahamadou Samassa's 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Highlanders trailed by nine early in the third quarter, but came back to take a 38-35 lead on a Dawson 3-pointer with 1:34 left in the period.The teams traded the lead three times and were tied three others before Taft won it when Lawrence sank the first of two free throws with 9 seconds left.
"We got down and didn't quit," Hess said. "We took the lead and had a shot to win the game. It just didn't go."
Hess complimented the Senators.
"They're a very good team," Hess said. "They're physical and can run and jump."
Hess was amazed that despite such a physical contest, his team not only didn't make a free throw, it never attempted one. Taft went 9 for 14 from the free throw line.
"That's astonishing," Hess said, when informed of the stat.
Huntington High returns to action at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28 at Ironton.
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