Early on, things didn't look all that good for Highlands. But it's not how you start; rather, it's how you finish.

And Highlands finished with overwhelming force last night in a 71-68 victory against host Indiana, scoring 45 second-half points to offset a less-than-stellar first half.

Highlands (14-4, 8-1) entered as the Post-Gazette's No. 2-ranked WPIAL Class AAA basketball team, and Indiana (13-5, 5-2) was fifth. The scope of the contest was partly why the game was moved to IUP's Memorial Fieldhouse.

The back-and-forth game didn't disappoint the huge crowd. It was tied with 40 seconds remaining, but, behind 24 points from Damon Porter and 20 from Reece Mayberry, the Golden Rams eventually prevailed. Kevin Stapleton led Indiana with 18 points.

Other top games

• Class AAA No. 3 Greensburg Salem (15-3, 6-0) hit 8 of 9 free throws in the final 1:30 to secure a 64-61 victory against visiting Laurel Highlands (9-8, 3-3) in Section 3. Chris Klimchock led the Lions with 18 points.

• Host Norwin (13-5, 8-2) used 20 points from Steve Removcik to cruise to an 82-56 win against Hempfield (9-9, 6-4) in Class AAAA Section 1.

• Class AAAA No. 5 Canon-McMillan (12-6, 6-2) trailed, 17-9, at halftime, but regrouped to notch a 41-33 victory against host Mt. Lebanon (7-10, 2-7) in Section 4. Charles Murphy led the Big Macs with 19 points.

• Visiting Peters Township (14-5, 6-3) needed overtime to claim a 40-36 victory against Bethel Park (8-11, 2-6) in Class AAAA Section 4. Nick Wilcox had 20 points to pace the Indians, who outscored Bethel Park, 7-3, in overtime.

• Class AA No. 2 Jeannette (9-3, 8-0) remained unbeaten in Section 1 with a 73-59 victory against host East Allegheny (11-7, 4-5). Terrelle Pryor led the Jayhawks with 22 points, Jordan Hall had 19 and Shaw Sunder 17.

Stars of the night

• With leading scorer Jake Wickline sidelined for much of the game with an injury, Jason Kolesar scored 29 points, had 13 rebounds and five blocks to lead Class AA No. 5 Riverside (17-1, 9-0) to a 62-46 win against visiting Rochester (5-11, 2-7) in Section 2.

• Butler senior Mike Pratkanis scored 20 points to lead the Golden Tornado (10-7, 3-5) to a 58-38 win against visiting Shaler (10-8, 4-5) in the Class AAAA Section 3.

Lucky 7s

• Three area players -- Fox Chapel's Harrison Smith, Hampton's Bill Luther and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart's Anthony Scappe -- hit seven 3-pointers last night.

Smith finished with a game-high 31 points as his Foxes (9-10, 3-5) grabbed a 68-60 overtime win against host Woodland Hills (4-15, 1-8) in Class AAAA Section 3.

All of Luther's points came via the long ball, and he scored 21 to lead the Talbots (10-7, 5-4) to a 61-45 victory at Kittanning (6-13, 0-9) in Class AAA Section 1.

Scappe finished with 27 points to push host OLSH (5-14, 4-5) to a 49-41 win against Avella (7-11, 2-7) in Class A Section 3.

Century club

• Serra emphatically showed why it is Class A's No. 1 team. The host Eagles (15-1, 9-0) earned a 101-53 victory against Frazier (2-15, 0-8) in Section 3. Pat Grubbs scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds for the Eagles while Anthony Epolito hit four 3-pointers en route to 20 points. T.J. Heatherington added 14 points and 12 assists for Serra.

Boys' hot shots

• Players with four or more 3-pointers: Bill Luther, Hampton, 7; Anthony Scappe, OLSH, 7; Harrison Smith, Fox Chapel, 7; Terrance Stepoli, Monessen, 6; Tyler Care, Lincoln Park, 5; Greg Koritsky, Carlynton, 5; Cody Morgan, Freedom, 5; Brady Pacific, Kiski Area, 5; Chris Skinner, Burgettstown, 5; Kennan Adams, Langley, 4; Luke Baker, McGuffey, 4; Jake Campbell, Freeport, 4; Ron Flowers, Woodland Hills, 4; Eric Holmes, Pine-Richland, 4; Joe Kromka, Gateway, 4; Sofion Moore, Oliver, 4; Matt O'Brien, Baldwin, 4.

Coaching hire

• Tim Banner was hired as the Woodland Hills baseball coach. Banner, 51, is the former head coach at North Allegheny, North Catholic and Avonworth and has a 271-129 career record. He won two WPIAL titles and a PIAA crown at North Allegheny and won the 1995 WPIAL championship at North Catholic.