Basketball returned to Glenvar High School Tuesday night as the Highlanders hosted Carroll County for a rare girls-boys varsity doubleheader. The Highlanders had mixed results, as the girls lost big but the boys pulled out a big win against a Class 4 opponent.

Playing their first game since December 21, the boys got off to a slow start. They trailed 17-7 after the first quarter and had no answer for Carroll’s Adam Horton, who scored 17 first half points. Glenvar shot the ball poorly and things weren’t looking up as Glenvar continued to struggle in the third quarter.

Then, the worm turned. The Highlanders cut the lead to 50-46 with about four minutes to go and finished on a 12-2 run to win the game, 58-52. Horton finished with 27 points for Carroll but was scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“We dodged a bullet,” said Glenvar coach David Redding. “We couldn’t have shot much worse than we did in the first half. We shot the ball a lot in practice over the break but it’s just not the same.”

Glenvar got some key rebounds off missed foul shots in the closing minutes. Noah Lovelace got two offensive boards off missed free throws and Landry Gerbers grabbed another, allowing the Highlanders to maintain possession and eat more time off the clock.

“We shoot a ton of free throws in practice and I hate to see us miss them, but if you get the rebound it works out,” said Redding.

Mason Holliday and Lovelace led the Highlanders with 12 points each while Logan Williams and Noah Duncan had nine each. Lovelace had seven rebounds and Adam Veverka had four. Glenvar outrebounded the Cavaliers 38-24 and had just eight turnovers for the game.

“That was a good win,” said Redding. “They were just 2-7 but they play a lot of big schools.”

Things didn’t go as well for the girls in the opener, as Glenvar took a 73-24 loss. The Cavs jumped on top early and Glenvar was never in the game.

“We made them look a lot better than they are,” said GHS coach Brian Crockett. “It’s frustrating. We go over things in practice and then they get nervous and don’t do them in the game.”

Glenvar had just seven girls in uniform while Carroll was subbing five at a time, and that wore down the Highlanders.

“At times we only had four at practice over the break, but I’m not into making excuses,” said Crockett. “We just need to get better.”

The girls are now 4-5 overall and they have three straight home games beginning tonight. Glenvar will host James River tonight, William Byrd on Friday and Alleghany on Monday.

The boys evened their record at 4-4 with the win over Carroll, and they were at James River on Wednesday. The boys are back on the road Friday at Alleghany, then they host Floyd County next Tuesday, January 9.