The McLennan Highlanders improved to 5-1 in conference play with a 66-52 win over the Ranger Rangers in Ranger.
The low-scoring first half was tit-for-tat for the first five minutes of play. Ranger led 6-5 with 15:36 remaining in the first half. Jared Clawson stepped up for the Highlanders with a 7-0 run to give McLennan the 12-6 lead. The Highlanders pushed the lead to nine at 23-14 with 8:11 to go in the half but Ranger trimmed it back to five at intermission, 33-28.
McLennan opened the second half on an 8-0 run to begin creating a little distance, 41-28. The Ranger shooters went cold in the second half, allowing the Highlanders to pull away. McLennan led by as many as 20 down the stretch. Ranger rallied late with Cincere Scott and BJ Comer both draining 3-pointers to cut the lead to 12, 64-52 with three minutes to play but couldn't get any closer.
Jared Clawson led the way for McLennan with 22 points. Omarion Smith and CJ Hall scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.
McLennan: Nick Shogbonyo 1 2-2 2; CJ Hall 4 3-5 12; Jaylen Thompson 0 0-0 0; A.J. Barnes 3 2-4 8; Jared Clawson 8 4-4 22; Omarion Smith 4 5-6 13; Mason Lockhart 2 4-4 8; Khalif Allim 1 0-0 2; Totals: 22 20-27 67.
Ranger: Cincere Scott 1 0-0 3; Derrick Daniels 6 1-4 14; B.J. Comer 2 0-0 5; Shay Davis 0 3-3 3; Noah Hutchins 1 1-2 3; Tayton Conerway 5 4-6 14; Tyler Poindexter 1 0-0 2; Mykell Robinson 2 2-5 7; Darius Duffy 0 0- 00; Totals: 18 11-20 52.
3-pointers: McLennan 3 (Clawson 2, Hall 1), Ranger 4 (Scott 1, Daniels 1, Comer 1, Robinson 1); Total fouls: McLennan 17, Ranger 18; Halftime score: McLennan 33, Ranger 28; Record: McLennan 18-4 (5-1).
Next up: McLennan travels to Terrell Saturday, Feb. 4 to face Southwestern Christian at 4 p.m.
