The McLennan Highlanders opened their season with a bang, crushing the Our Lady of Lake JV Saints tonight at The Highlands.
Justin Wilson put the Highlanders on the board with a bucket less than 20 seconds into the contest. Our Lady of the Lake responded quickly. McLennan extended the lead to four early on, but the Saints continued to hang around. The Highlanders led by two, 15-13, with 12:51 to play in the first half. McLennan used a 9-0 run, including four points from Forte Prater, over the next two minutes to extend the lead to 11. Our Lady of the Lake continued to battle and trimmed the lead to six, 27-21, with 8:34 remaining in the half. The Highlanders took control from that point on leading by as many as 19 down the stretch and holding the 17-point advantage at the break, 53-36.
McLennan continued to dominate the Saints in the second half. Our Lady of the Lake's Xavier Woodington opened the half with a bucket but the Highlanders rattled off the next 16 points to put the game securely out of reach. McLennan continued to roll, cruising to the easy opening day victory.
Justin Wilson led the Highlanders with 17 points. Kirk Smith Jr. and Forte Prater added 16 points each. Dillon Gooding chipped in 10.
McLennan returns to action Wednesday evening at The Highlands, hosting Blinn at 7 p.m.
OLLU JV: Julian Camper 4 0-2 8; Aidan Torres 4 1-4 11; Xavier Woodington 3 0-0 7; Elijah Davis 4 2-2 10; Wade Bowen 0 0-0 0; Kesean Warren 3 1-2 8; Marquise Scott 2 4-4 8; Aidan Wollenzier 1 4-4 6; Totals: 21 12-16 58.
McLennan: Forte Prater 6 2-2 16; Dillon Gooding 3 3-4 10; CJ Hall 4 0-0 9; Rommell Williams 4 0-0 8; Anthony Simmons 2 0-0 4; Jayce Wright 1 0-0 2; Nehemiah Nuckolls 2 0-0 4; Chris Pryor 3 0-0 8; Ahmad Watkins 0 0-0 0; Diego Gonzalez 1 0-0 2; Antonio Patterson 0 1-2 1; Khalif Allim 2 0-0 4; Cortland Blake 0 2-2 2; Kirk Smith Jr. 8 0-0 16; Javani Brown 1 1-3 3; Justin Wilson 7 3-4 17; Totals: 44 12-17 106.
3-pointers: OLLU JV 4 (Torres 2, Woodington 1, Warren 1), McLennan 6 (Prater 2, Pryor 2, Hall 1, Gooding 1); Total fouls: OLLU JV 20, McLennan 18; Record: McLennan 1-0.
