Highland coach Miner Webster is used to winning and winning a lot. But not with his Hawks laboring as much as they have this season.

It happened again Tuesday night as Dobson and a nearly all new cast of characters for the defending state champions pushed Highland to the end in a 67-61 win for the Hawks at Dobson.

"We have our moments, but we can't put teams away when we have them by the throat," Webster said. "Kaile came up big for us. She's a gamer.

"Dobson never gives up. They played in our tournament at Thanksgiving and in Las Vegas with us so we've seen a lot of them. They hustle and get after it. Noone outhustles them and that's one reason they're doing so well."

Kaile is senior Kaile Magazzeni, who led all scorers with 22 points. Magazzeni did most of her damage from the free-throw line where she was outstanding. She connected on 14-of-15 attempts and scored six of  Highland's final nine points. Just a week ago Magazzeni had a tough night at the free-throw line making just 2-of-8 against Basha. 

Highland improved to 16-3 for the season and is 2-0 in region play. Turnovers, perhaps the most consistent part of the Hawks games this season, were again a problem. But they were offset by an equal number -- 22 - by the Mustangs.

Dobson, which dropped to 12-7 on the season, had many chances to pack it in. The Mustangs trailed 19-5 late in the first period and by 10 at halftime. The difference at intermission was 11-of-14 free-throw shooting by Highland compared to Dobson's 1-of-7.

Dobson was down 10 with 5:47 left in the third period when leading scorer Delia Vasquez (17 points in the game) went to the bench with her fourth foul. The Mustangs hung tough and sliced the lead to 46-42 by the end of the period thanks to seven points from sophomore guard Katherine Hamilton (14 points) and a 3-point field goal in the final seconds of the period from freshman Tori Lloyd.

Highland could not stretch the lead to more than five even while Vasquez sat and finally returned with 5:51 to play in the game. Moniek Albach scored on a reverse layup with 1:32 to play to pull Dobson within 58-57. A breakdown on defense netted Magazzeni a layup with 1:13 to go to bump the lead back to three. Dobson tried four 3s in the final minute, but only one by Hamilton with 9.5 seconds left was good and it banked in to cut the lead to 63-61.

Two free throws each by Alyssa Heeman and Magazzeni in the final 8.5 seconds ended Dobson's upset bid.

"We need to make free throws and get better possessions," Dobson coach Tyler Dumas said. "I hate losing, but I like the way this team battled and hung in there against a more experienced team."