Pinnacle struggled all season to be the healthy, competitive team coach Charlie Wilde thought he had. They were good enough to hang in and qualify for a play-in game, which they won last week. 

On Tuesday night -- and for a game or two before that - the Pioneers have been as close to health as they'll be by season's end. That end has yet to come.

With 6-foot-8 post Tosh Baker in the lineup for only the third game since the new year began due to injury, the big fellow propelled No. 14 Pinnacle to an early lead and a wire-to-wire 70-59 victory over No. 3 and host Highland in the first round of the 6A state basketball tournament.

Pinnacle (13-15), the two-time defending 6A champs, advance to Saturday's quarterfinals. The Pioneers visit No. 11 Mountain Pointe, a 59-48 winner over No. 6 La Joya Community. Highland, which bounced back from an 8-18 season last year, finished 17-9 in its second season under Todd Fazio.

"All year we've been hurt and just in the last week or so we've had everyone available except our point guard who won't be back because of injury," Wilde said. "It's taken awhile to get used to one another. Tosh came out and got us going. When he went out in the second quarter the freshman (Royce Ramos) came up big for us."

Baker, who led all scorers with 17 points, owned the post in the opening period scoring eight points and making all four of his shots as Pinnacle built an 18-10 lead.

Baker got a three-minute rest to end the opening quarter and was back out for less than two minutes of the second period when he picked up two fouls in 15 seconds. Ramos, who sank a three in the opening quarter, went on to tally nine points in the second quarter. As hard as Highland tried, it couldn't cut into the lead with Baker on the bench and went to haftime trailing, 39-24.

Highland managed to pull with 10 (47-37) heading to the final period with guard Noah Huber coming off the bench to score eight of his 120points and Mason Knollmiller supplying extra offense in reserve role. Highland cut the deficit to eight early in the fourth, but an 8-2 run (keyed by Baker and Matthew Goodlow) pushed the margin to double-digits again. Pinnacle made 14 of  16 free throws in the final 2:42 to put Highland away.

"We thought we had a good team in the preseason," Wilde said. "It's gratifying to see them play well. We have some guys out there who have been in these types of games (Marcus) Libman and Tosh. Because of the injuries we've had younger guys get more playing time. It's helped in the long run."

Three of Pinnacle's five starters scored in double figures - Harrions Gaunt (15) and Marcus Libman (10). Ramos (14 points  was a fourth and Goodlow added nine points. Tanner Crandall (11 points) and Bronson Hatch (10) joined Huber in double digits.

 

 

 

 

 

A team that missed the playoffs last season vs. one that won a second consecutive boys hoops title a season ago. How their fortunes changed in a year.

Pinnacle (12-15) vs. Highland (17-8) Hawks (8-18 last season)