Highlanders close out regular season defeating Weatherford

The McLennan Highlanders defeated the Weatherford Coyotes 79-76.
 
Weatherford began the scoring with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Matt Wages. Chris Pryor quickly tied the game with a 3-point shot from the top of the key for McLennan. The Highlanders took the lead on a Cameron Copeland dunk less than a minute later and would never relinquish it. McLennan led 9-7 with 15:45 to play in the first half and used a 5-0 run to begin putting some distance between the two squads. The Highlanders took the first double-digit lead on a Claven Wilson bucket midway through the half, 25-15. McLennan would lead by as many as 12 in the half but Weatherford continued to battle. The Coyotes rallied to pull within two, 39-37, with 40 seconds to play before the break. A Tre Thomas baskets in the final seconds would put McLennan up by four at halftime, 41-37.
 
The second half was much the same as the Highlanders held the Coyotes at arm's length much of the way. McLennan extended the lead to 13 with 6:15 remaining in the game, 68-55. Once again Weatherford rallied but it wasn't enough to overtake the Highlanders.
 
Cameron Copeland led the Highlanders with 22 points and Rayquan Brown added 15. Lorenzo Anderson and Akili Vining scored 13 and 11, respectively.
 
The Highlanders advance to the Region V Tournament beginning Wednesday, March 4 at Abilene Christian University.

Weatherford: Matt Wages 5 3-5 14; Billy Hill 3 0-1 6; Jared Simmons 1 2-2 5; Erik Talton 7 3-5 20; Aaron Heft 3 0-0 7; Konnor Ross 3 2-2 8; Deaken Stangl 0 0-0 0; D'Michael Bellfield 6 3-8 15; Troy Joseph 0 0-0 0; Totals: 28 13-23 76.
 
McLennan: Akili Vining 5 0-0 11; Lorenzo Anderson 4 4-6 13; Rodrique Massenat 1 0-0 2; Cameron Copeland 7 5-5 22; Chris Pryor 3 1-2 8; Rayquan Brown 7 1-3 15; Tre Thomas 1 0-0 2; Claven Wilson 2 0-0 4; Asare Otchere 1 0-0 2; Tyrese Taylor 0 0-0 0; Scott Ator 0 0-0 0; Totals: 31 11-16 79.
 
3-pointers: Weatherford 6 (Talton 3, Wages 1, Simmons 1, Heft 1), McLennan 6 (Copeland 3, Vining 1, Anderson 1, Pryor 1); Total fouls: Weatherford 14, McLennan 22; Halftime score: McLennan 41, Weatherford 37.; Record: McLennan 19-11 (10-4).