Fans Can’t Inspire Highland to Victory

A group of Highland High fans dressed in strange outfits, attempting to inspire their girls’ basketball team in the school’s first-ever playoff game Thursday night.

One student dressed as Elvis Presley.

The Bulldogs, however, were unable to take care of business.

Sarah Shanley’s three-point basket with 17 seconds gave Santa Monica a 47-44 victory over the Bulldogs in a Southern Section Division I-AA wild-card game at Highland.

The Vikings (16-9) will play top-seeded Crescenta Valley (22-2) on Saturday.

Highland (18-6), in its sixth season of varsity competition, looked every bit like a team making its first playoff appearance.

The Bulldogs committed 30 turnovers, including 12 in the fourth quarter to squander a 40-35 lead.

“We just panicked,” said Highland forward Kameelah Purdom, who scored 13 points, but made only six of 17 shots.

It didn’t help that Highland was playing without Coach Tim Knight, who was attending a teachers’ conference in Palm Springs.

“We missed Tim a lot,” said assistant coach Ron Haywood, who ran the team with junior varsity coach Vance Jackson. “Tim is a mastermind. There’s no way I could have filled his shoes.”

Junior center Tiffany Winkfield had 17 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots for Highland.

Kristal Jones scored 14 points for Santa Monica.

Highland led, 44-42, in the waning seconds when Winkfield blocked Jones’ shot.

The ball bounced to Shanley, a sophomore guard who averaged two points per game during the regular season.

Shanley, who had a season-high nine points, didn’t hesitate and hit a shot that gave the Vikings a 45-44 lead.