The Highland boys' basketball team pounded Twin Falls on the shoulders of a double-double from Taysom Hill and a dominating defensive effort, beating the Bruins 51-30 at home and securing the No. 2 seed in the 4A District 4, 5, 6 tournament later this month.

Minutes after his team beat Idaho Falls on Wednesday, Christ Frost, the Rams' coach said a key to beating Twin Falls would be stopping the Bruins' 3-pointers shooting, which contributed to them pounding the Rams the first time they met this season.

The coach was right. Highland's nearly flawless perimeter defense allowed a big fat zero in Twin Falls' 11 shots from beyond the arc.

"We played well on defense," Frost said. "I didn't think we blocked off as much as we wanted to, but we did well."

Highland didn't dominate the boards, however. The Bruins pulled down 41 total rebounds to the Rams' 36. But that was the only battle on offense or defense that Highland didn't win.

Highland shot 38 percent from the field, compared with 26 percent for Twin Falls, and the Rams actually had a higher rebounding percentage, 53 percent to the Bruins' 47 percent.

One statistic that really stood out was the points off turnovers - 11 points for Highland compared with just three points for Twin Falls. It was the difference in the game during the first half - Highland had six points compared to Twin Falls' one point off turnovers - when the game was much closer.

Highland and Twin Falls each went into Friday's game the owner of a 4-4 district record. The prize for the winner was the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

The first quarter looked as if it would be a tight battle between two evenly matched teams. The two teams traded defensive stops before Hill scored the game's first two points with 6:17 left in the quarter.

The Rams started the game with a 4-0 lead before Twin Falls went on a 7-2 run to take a 9-6 lead. It would be the only lead the Bruins would enjoy. Highland finished the quarter with four more points to take a 10-9 lead into the second.

That quarter belonged to Hill, who scored all of Highland's seven points. Hill finished with 17 points on the night and was a master on the glass, taking down 12 boards, 11 of them on defense.

The Bruins managed only four points during the second quarter and went into the locker room down 17-13. Although the deficit was manageable with two quarters yet to play, it ended up being the trickle of water before the dam broke.

"I think we came out really confident in the second half," said Highland guard Joseph Denney. "We wanted it. It was a must win for us."

Denney, who was scoreless during the first half, would not remain so. It took him just 10 seconds into the third quarter to remedy that situation when hit hit a jumper. He finished with nine points on the night.

Highland allowed Twin Falls its best offensive output during the third quarter, giving up 10 points to the Bruins. But the Rams put up 19 points of their own to take a 36-23 lead into the fourth.

Avery Manu, also scoreless during the first half, racked up 11 points during the first half. The opportunities not there during the first 16 minutes suddenly began to present themselves during the second half as Highland's lead continued to grow.

"In the beginning, it was a fight, but we got it together," said Manu, comparing the two halves. "We all just started taking the shots as they came."

Highland held the Rams to just seven points during the fourth quarter.

In beating Idaho Falls on Wednesday and Twin Falls on Friday, Highland took control of its own destiny, which is what Manu said the team talked about all week.

"That was our mindset," he said. "We didn't want to have to get on that yellow school bus."

"We didn't want to have to go to Madison or Twin Falls," Denney said, finishing Manu's thoughts about the impending district tournament.

Highland next plays on Wednesday when the team hosts Century.