The McLennan Highlanders closed out day two of the WTC Classic with a 74-70 victory over the hometown Western Texas Westerners in Snyder.
Western Texas secured the opening tip but an Evan Chatman steal and jumper began the scoring for McLennan. The Highlanders followed that with a long 3-pointer from Ari Gooch on the next possession to make it an early five-point lead. McLennan continued to lead by five, 15-10 with 12:26 to play in the first half. The Westerners added a bucket from Justin McCall to cut it back to three, 15-12. The Highlanders responded with an 8-0 run to go up 23-12. McLennan took its largest lead at 25-14 on a Frederick Rogers III put back with 7:41 to go in the half. Western Texas used an 11-0 run to tie the game at 25 with 3:14 on the clock. The teams traded the lead down the stretch with Western Texas leading by one at the break, 35-34.
The Westerners pushed the lead to six early in the second half before the Highlanders began to rally. McLennan tied the game at 51 with a pair of Amare Banks free throws with 12 minutes remaining in the game. The Highlanders continued to fight behind strong shooting from Joseph Mayberry, pushing the lead to 10 with 4:30 to play, 69-59. Back-to-back 3-pointers from the Westerners quickly cut the McLennan lead to four, 69-65. Western Texas continued to rally, cutting the lead to one on a Will Lobor 3-pointer with 41 seconds to play, 71-70. Banks added a basket and a free throw in the final seconds to secure the win.
Joseph Mayberry was a perfect shooting in the game, going 7-7 from the field, 2-2 from the 3-point line and 4-4 from the free throw line for 20 points. Amare Banks added 14 points, and Evan Chatman scored 12.
McLennan: Tremayne Kilgore 1 0-0 3; Rontavious Blackshear 3 0-2 7; Joseph Mayberry 7 4-4 20; Kardae Turner 1 0-0 3; Amare Banks 4 6-7 14; Ari Gooch 2 2-4 7; Keegan Rowell 0 0-0 0; Evan Chatman 3 6-8 12; John McQueen; Frederick Rogers, III 3 2-4 8; Maximilian Blank 0 0-0 0; Totals: 24 20-29 74.
Western Texas: Will Lobor 5 1-2 15; Justin McCall 6 5-6 21; Djylan Ferrin 0 0-0 0; Quentin Henry 1 2-2 5; Mayen Ayuel 3 0-0 6; Owen Bustillos 0 0-0 0; Jalen Brown 0 0-0 0; Yuval Shopen 0 2-2 2; Calven Charles 3 2-4 8; Ronald Durham 4 0-3 10; Makhaya Moore 1 0-0 2; Viktor Bystrom 0 1-1 1; Totals: 23 13-20 70.
Halftime score: Western Texas 35, McLennan 34; 3-pointers: McLennan 6 (Mayberry 2, Turner 1, Gooch 1, Kilgore 1, Blackshear 1), Western Texas 11 (McCall 4, Lobor 4, Durham 2, Henry 1); Total fouls: McLennan 19, Western Texas 22; Record: McLennan 8-2.
