The McLennan Highlanders are headed into the winter holiday break with an 8-6 record following an 88-67 win over the Eastfield Harvesters tonight at The Highlands.
McLennan jumped out early, opening the game on a 10-0 run. The Highlanders held the Harvesters to one free throw through the first seven minutes of play. McLennan took the first double-digit lead at 14-4 with 13:03 to play in the first half. The Highlanders led by 11, 27-16, with 8:07 to go before the break. Eastfield used a 7-0 run to pull within four but McLennan pulled away again, leading by 10 with 3:26 to play, 35-25. The Harvesters rallied late to tie the game at 37 with 34 seconds remaining. A Cameron Copeland bucket just before the buzzer gave McLennan the two-point advantage at the half, 39-37.
The Highlanders opened the second half on an 11-2 run to break the game open. McLennan led by 11, 50-39 with 15 minutes remaining in the game. Eastfield cut the lead to six twice within the next three minutes. But, the Highlanders put together a 19-2 run to put the game out of reach for the Harvesters.
Cameron Copeland led the Highlanders with 20 points and Lorenzo Anderson added 16. Akili Vining and Asare Otchere scored 10 points each.
McLennan returns to action Dec. 31, hosting Angelina at 4 p.m.
Eastfield: DaJuan Ridgeway 6 3-4 20; D'Angelo Smith 3 1-2 9; Tamarcus Butler 7 2-4 19; Calvin Williams 4 0-0 9; Quemaine Ratcliff 2 0-0 4; Deavan Stovall 0 0-0 0; Jeremiah Roland 1 0-0 2; Quincy White 0 0-0 0; Tyrese Davis 0 0-0 0; Athian Woul 0 2-2 4; Xavier Benson 0 0-0 0; Ezekiel Fields 1 0-0 2; Kyree Rogers 0 0-0 0; Totals: 24 8-12 67.
McLennan: Akili Vining 4 1-2 10; Lorenzo Anderson 8 0-0 16; Rodrique Massenat 1 0-1 2; Cameron Copeland 9 1-1 20; Chris Pryor 3 2-2 9; Rayquan Brown 0 0-0 0; Tre Thomas 3 0-0 6; Claven Wilson 0 3-4 3; Asare Otchere 5 0-0 10; Isaiah Wyatt 1 0-1 3; Tyrese Taylor 3 1-3 7; Scott Ator 1 0-0 2; Totals: 38 8-14 88.
3-pointers: Eastfield 11 (Ridgeway 5, Butler 3, Smith 2, Williams 1), McLennan 4 (Vining 1, Copeland 1, Pryor 1, Wyatt 1); Total fouls: Eastfield 18, McLennan 13; Fouled out: Eastfield (Butler); Halftime score: McLennan 39, Eastfiled 33; Record: McLennan 8-6.
