Want to highlight all but first line
 

I have a large spreadsheet. I often want to highlight a couple of thousand
rows from one point to the top *except* for the very first row. I
highlight from the starting point to the top by selecting the bottommost
row, and then ctrl/shift-Home to select all the way up through the top row.
I thought I could then de-select the top row by pressing ctrl/click on the
row number. But instead of deselecting the row, it de-selects the first
cell in the row. The rows are very wide, so de-selecting each cell in it
isn't practical. Can anyone tell me why ctrl/click on the first row number
in the highlighted area deselects the cell instead of the row?

TIA
Laurel