They've been ranked as high as number 1 in preseason polls, but fell short. A lot can happen during season. I'm not sure when Highlands has emerged from the 9th, but I think it's been a long time.
In bball forum i always wondered how the Highlands football threads would go when the program struggled. Not exactly what I expected. Funny everyone is still hung up on the running up the score thing from long ago.
The basketball ball guys need to be identified and developed. When my kids where there. The middle school teams were always good. But a huge majority were football players. By the time they got to high school, the non footballers sick of being overlooked moved on. So, sacrifice some success at the middle school level to DEVELOP talent for high school.