Highlands boys basketball coach Corey Dotchin sensed that Class 4A was going to be a dogfight when he first got a look at the new section alignments in July.

That certainly has come to fruition, and the Golden Rams are in the thick of the fight.

The top two teams in each section are Hampton (16-2) and Highlands (15-3) in Section 1, Lincoln Park (17-1) and North Catholic (11-6) in Section 2, Uniontown (16-2) and Laurel Highlands (15-2) in Section 3 and South Allegheny (15-2) and Quaker Valley (11-5) in Section 4.

Each one of them boasts a resume featuring tradition and a recent run of good results.

There also are third-place teams such as Beaver (14-3) and Belle Vernon (9-9) that could be dangerous.

With the playoffs right around the corner, the Golden Rams are honing in on the last two weeks of section play to prepare for battle.

“We’ve relayed the message to the kids that it’s going to be a battle in a couple weeks, and we have to be the best version of ourselves when it comes that time,” Dotchin said. “That’s really been our approach from the first day of the season. Every game and every practice we’ve been continuing to climb up that ladder and be at the peak come playoff time.

For the full story, click here.