The McLennan Highlanders rolled to an 85-59 victory over the Weatherford Coyotes at The Highlands tonight in the quarterfinal round of the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference Tournament.
McLennan controlled the tempo and Weatherford from the start. Rayquan Brown put the Highlanders on the board less than 30 seconds into the contest and a Chris Pryor 3-pointer from the elbow made it a 5-0 run for McLennan. Weatherford trailed by three, 7-4, with 17:41 to play in the first half. McLennan began to pull away from that point, using an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to lead 15-4. The Highlanders took their first double-digit lead at 18-6 with a Diego Gonzalez bucket and continued to run away from the Coyotes. McLennan led by 12, 35-23 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. The Highlanders ended the half on a 6-0 run capped off by a dunk by Brown to hold the 41-23 lead at halftime. The Highlanders' dominance continued throughout the second half as they held Weatherford at arm's length to secure the victory.
Rayquan Brown led the Highlanders with 19 points and Dillon Gooding added 18. Chris Pryor and Diego Gonzalez scored 15 and 10, respectively.
McLennan will face either Ranger or Southwestern Christian Saturday in the semifinal round at a site and time to be determined.
Weatherford: Javon Juarez 1 0-0 3; Dillon Bennett 6 0-0 13; Billy Hill 1-2 3; Davydas Pinskus 0 0-0 0; Robertas Sycius 0 0-0 0; Aaron Heft 7 1-1 15; Konnor Ross 1 0-0 2; Trey Glenn 1 0-0 2; D'Michael Bellfield 7 1-315; Jakobi Greenleaf 2 0-0 4; Totals: 26 2-4 59.
McLennan: Damarni Velinor-Schumann 0-0 0; Dillon Gooding 6 2-2 18; Amani Harris 0 0-0 0; Maurice Harvey 1 2-2 4; Nehemiah Nuckolls 1 0-0 2; Chris Pryor 5 3-3 15; Rayquan Brown 9 0-0 19; Diego Gonzalez 4 0-0 10; Isaiah Placide 0 0-0 3; Asare Otchere 4 0-0 8; Kirk Smith Jr. 3 3-6; Totals: 33 10-13 85.
3-pointers: Weatherford 5 (Heft 2, Hill 1, Bennett 1, Juarez 1), McLennan 9 (Gooding 4, Pryor 2, Gonzalez 2, Brown 1); Total fouls: Weatherford 12, McLennan 13; Halftime score: McLennan 41, Weatherford 23; Record: McLennan 18-4 (10-4).
