Matt Stucki came striding out of the Highland locker room, where he had just finished going over the Rams' 52-47 loss to Timberline Saturday afternoon, a result that frustrated him for a number of reasons: His group played fine defense. They overcame an early deficit. They held firm control for a good chunk of the game.

The part that really doomed the Rams, though, was the part that irked their new head coach the most.

"Really, the difference in that game was the offensive rebounds," Stucki said. "Timberline did a great job of sending guys to the offensive boards, and we just had a tough time with it. I think we probably (gave up) 15 to 17 offensive rebounds and just beat us up on the glass."

No coach likes to yield so many second-chance points, but especially not a coach whose team lost by a five-point margin. Senior forward Jayden Wright posted a team-best 18 points, and his team took a 38-35 lead into the final eight minutes. In that fourth frame, though, the Rams (2-1) were outscored 17-9.

Many of the problems that plagued Highland, which will host Preston on Tuesday night, took place around the basket. The hosts did well to force misses, keeping the Wolves to a 40% shooting mark for the game — but issues surfaced when the ball clanged off the rim. Timberline forward Jachin Mertes carded a game-best 19 points, including 12 in the fourth stanza, finishing over contests from Wright, cashing four buckets in the fourth quarter. Timberline got second-chance points from what felt like everyone on the roster, including Parker Gropp and Alex Ko.

"With the defense we play," Stucki said, "sometimes we get different mismatches, bigger guy on a smaller guy, and that's where we gotta turn and just really box out, instead of running to the basket."

Maybe the decision wouldn't be so disappointing for the Rams if they hadn't played so well earlier in the game. Guard Kevin Dahlstrom supplied a few strong drives en route to seven points. Owen Wilde canned an inconsequential triple at the buzzer, but he did score 10. Garrett Cambell posted six points with shots around the basket. It wasn't anything to write home about, to be sure, but teams can find ways to win with similar efforts.

The Rams couldn't do so, mostly because of those offensive rebounds they gave up, but for other reasons too. On Friday night, they topped Middleton in overtime, a 61-57 victory. That game wrapped up a few minutes before 10 p.m. Eleven hours later, the Rams were back on the court, warming up for another game. Timberline found itself in the same position, coming off a narrow loss to Century the same night, but it may have had some effect on Saturdays game. "We got a couple of kids that are playing a lot of minutes, so I mean, it's wearing out your body," Stucki said. "So it's trying to find a way to play when you're tired. But also that's how the major tournaments happen. That's the state tournament. So it's good to have these, to give you kind of a piece to see where we are conditioningwise. We've gotta get better conditioning-wise, and we'll get there. But the nice thing is it's really early in the season, and we saw a lot of good things."

For Highland, the best thing might have been Wright. The Rams' best player delivered a game fit for the title. He wriggled free around the rim for tough layups. He stepped back and splashed a long ball to beat the halftime buzzer. He's a remarkable talent, and it almost doesn't make sense: How does a 6-foot-5, lumbering forward have such deft touch from the outside? How does he find ways to sidestep, to step back, to make so many clever moves to get to the basket?

It's all part of the magic for Wright, one of the few returners from last year's squad, which looks so much different from this one. The most noticeable change is Stucki, the first-year head coach who replaced former coach Ty Pearson, who has since moved with his family to take a job in Texas. We won't rehash all the details, but you know the gist: Toward the end of the season, the Rams had grown so frustrated with Pearson that they decided to sit out the rest of the year unless one of his assistants took over — only for the team to return after a one-game absence.

So Stucki, a former allconference player at Idaho State, stepped in to take Highland's head coaching job. So far, he has led the Rams to a 2-1 record. It's December, and these nonconference games against Boise-area clubs won't matter when the calendar flips to February. But they do give the Rams a chance to see where they are — and things they need to clean up. Priority No. 1 on that front: Rebounding.

"We had to learn a whole new system, a whole new defensive scheme," Stucki said. "We're doing a lot of things that are different than last year. Every coach has their style. So there's gonna be that little lull in trying to figure it out, but I think we've made great strides, and we're moving in the right direction."