Connor Harding was the sort of wide open that’s usually a disaster. The kind of open that creates an expectation — you can’t miss.

    He had all night from the bottom right corner of the baseline.

    Easy.

    Swish.

    With that 3-pointer — part of Harding’s 25-point, 10-rebound performance — the Highland Rams recovered from a double-digit, first-half deficit to upend the Skyline Grizzlies 73-62 Thursday night at Highland High School.

    “Confidence, just have confidence in your shot,” Harding said after the game.

    Harding’s 3-pointer put the Rams (3-1, 1-0 5A 5-6 District) up 63-56 with two minutes left and essentially ended the game.

    But it was the sophomore’s two-handed dunk to tie it in the third quarter that signified the Rams had come to play after falling behind early. Skyline led 37-27 at halftime and had forced 15 Ram turnovers.

    The Grizzlies’ defense, and intense style of play, seemed to stun the Rams.

    “Skyline was a lot more physical than we thought they were going to be,” said junior Highland guard Stefan Gonzalez, “but we’re going to have to learn how to get through that in the next couple games because people are going to start getting after it.”

    Harding’s dunk in the third and 3-pointer in the fourth bookended Highland’s comeback and ultimate second-half throttling of the Grizzlies (2-1, 0-1 5A 5-6 District). But it was Gonzalez’s calming presence in the final two quarters that helped the Rams outscore the visitors 46-25 in the last 16 minutes.

    Gonzalez, who had five points and a chunk of his five turnovers in the ugly first half, rebounded to score 24 points. He added six rebounds, six assists and three steals. Down the stretch run when the Grizzlies had to foul, Gonzalez buried nine free throws. He finished 13-for-15 from the foul line.

    “We definitely came more mentally prepared in the second half,” he said. “We knew what they were doing and we adjusted coming out in the third quarter and we just went from there.”

    Skyline’s Mason Maker scored a team-high 19 points. Jai Jai Ely had 13 and Tyson Baker added 12.

    The Grizzlies shot 37 percent from the floor, compared to 52.5 percent for Highland, who had a 13-point contribution from junior Kyler Manu.

    “Our kids adjusted and we did some pretty good things in the second half,” said Highland head coach Chris Frost. “First half, we were just atrocious offensively and defensively.”

    Highland hosts Bear River (Utah) Saturday at 5:30 p.m.    

Highland 73, Skyline 62

Skyline    14 23 10 15 — 62

Highland    14 13 19 27 — 73

Skyline — Tyson Baker 12, Zak Bennett 8, Brayden Burnside 8, Mason Baker 19, McKay Harding 2, Jai Jai Ely 13.

Highland — Nate Page 5, Kyler Manu 13, Mav Woodward 2, Hayden Huff 2, Connor Harding 25, Thad Hansen 2, Stefan Gonzalez 24.