Highland basketball players Portell, Altadonna make all-MVC team

There were few great moments or bright spots for the Highland boys basketball team in the 2019-20 season.

The Bulldogs struggled through a difficult 2-29 campaign this winter but the season was not a complete washout thanks to the efforts of players such as Cade Altadonna and Brylee Portell.

Altadonna’s and Portell’s hard work to help the Bulldogs was rewarded March 16, when they were voted onto the Mississippi Valley Conference all-conference team.

“Cade, with his scoring ability with him being on the floor and his ability to knock down some threes, meant a lot to us and Brylee really came on for us with his leadership toward the end of the season,” Highland coach Derryl Cunningham said.

Altadonna, a freshman guard, was named to the second team and Portell, a senior guard, was named to the team as an honorable mention selection.

“I was really excited as a freshman getting told that we made second-team in a pretty good conference,” Altadonna said. “I was excited and honored that other coaches think highly of me to select me like that.”

Getting selected to the all-conference second team as a freshman was something Altadonna thought at the start of the season was possible but not likely to happen.

“I never really thought about it (initially) and I kind of thought maybe I had a chance to make the team but never really knew for sure and so whenever he (coach Cunningham) told me I was like ‘wow, that’s awesome,’” said Altadonna.

Scoring was Altadonna’s strong suit during his freshman season as he averaged 11.2 points a game to lead the Bulldogs and averaged 15 points per game in MVC games this year.

“We needed more from a guy like Cade, who can score the ball and his first day of practice, he set an impression and he caught my eye pretty quickly,” Cunningham said.

Portell struggled to find his place early in his senior season but in the second half of the season, he settled in as a defensive specialist who would often harass the opposing team’s best guard.

“I thought Brylee turned it around in the second half of the season,” Cunningham said. “I thought the first half of the season, he was putting out enough (work) and to Brylee’s credit he turned it around and ended up being a good defensive player for us and he started to show leadership skills, which we desperately needed.”

Altadonna, Portell bright spots for HHS

Although it was not a playoff win or championship, Altadonna believes the and Portell making the all-conference team definitely showed Highland’s season was indeed worthwhile.

“Obviously, the season did not go as we thought, but we were a really young team and I think as the season went on — although the record doesn’t show it — I think our team grew as the season went on,” Altadonna said. “We would watch film after every game and you would see the improvement. Turnovers would be down and assists would come up as we learned to play together more.”