The fans came out and the gym was rocking, but the New Paltz Huguenots ruled the night, handing the Highland Huskies a 65-45 loss on Thursday at Highland High School.

“The effort was phenomenal,” Highland coach Mike Milliman said. “Every kid that went into the game went in and played their heart out. That’s what I told them when I first went in there (after the game).

They played against a good team, but they played a good game. They left it all out on the floor.”

Cayden Dones led the Huguenots with a game-high 24 points and Rohan Kenney added 13. The Huskies had trouble getting around the Huguenots’ long and tall center Russell Patterson, who constantly caused disruptions in the middle. He finished with 13 points and Jack Faure scored 10 points.

“He’s a big kid,” Milliman said. “They’re a good team, but he’s 6-7 or 6-8, and Caden had those floaters and little pull-up jumpers. He’s a good player.”

Reid Berean led the Huskies with 19 points. However, the Huskies struggled to shoot, going 1 of 19 from behind the 3-point line.

“The intensity, and the desire was all there tonight,” Milliman said. “I thought the kids played a good game. They hustled. They were going after loose balls. They were crashing the offensive boards. New Paltz is a good team. The other thing is we couldn’t seem to be able to buy a hoop. “

The Huskies matched up against a team that is closing in on a Mid Hudson Athletic League Division II championship, which they had an opportunity to secure on Tuesday with a win over the Red Hook Raiders.

The Huskies, meanwhile, dropped to 6-10 with Thursday’s loss and need wins in their three four games to clinch a berth in the upcoming Section 9 Class B tournament.

All remaining games are at home, and Milliman is looking for the same playoff-like atmosphere to rally his team.

“The atmosphere was great,” Milliman said.

“The kids were here; the student body was here. They were chanting. I said to my guys, you’ve got to get them back tomorrow.

You’ve got to get them back for Millbrook’ because it changes the atmosphere for the whole team.’”

They needed that atmosphere as they finished the week with a 91-37 non-league win over Webutuck, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

They were scheduled to host Millbrook on Tuesday and then play another rivalry game on Friday when they host the Marlboro Iron Dukes.

“We showed that we can play with anybody,” Milliman said. “If we made a few more shots – we were 0-for-7, and they had a 7-0 lead. We took seven good shots. We got a couple of rebounds. I just take away that we played hard, the kids, stuck together and it was a good team effort.”