The Highland Huskies picked up their first victory of the boys’ basketball season Thursday night, grinding past English Valleys 40-30. The Huskies led a low-scoring first quarter 6-3 before the Bears cut the deficit down to one at halftime. But the Highland defense continued to dominate, allowing the Huskies to stretch their advantage to six going into the final period and hold on from there.

Highland senior Logan Bonebrake had a strong night to help the Huskies finally enter the win column. finishing with team highs of 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Junior Nicolas Oriano also played well in the post with nine points, five rebounds and three blocked shots to snap the Huskies’ eight-game losing streak.

The Highland girls fell 54-44 to English Valleys Thursday. A two-point lead for the Huskies after one quarter turned into a five-point deficit at halftime that they could not make up. Highland falls to 3-7 ahead of both Husky teams traveling to Pekin for their next games Monday evening.