The McLennan Highlanders held off a late Weatherford rally to get the 68-60 win over the Coyotes in Weatherford.
Nick Shogbonyo began the scoring with a 3-pointer for the Highlanders from the corner and controlled the game for McLennan, scoring the first 13 points for the squad. McLennan built a 11-point lead at 20-9 with 11:54 to play in the first half. The Highlanders held a seven-point lead at 24-17 with 8:16 to go and finished the half on an 18-6 run to hold the 42-23 advantage at halftime.
McLennan pushed the lead to 21 early in the second half but Weatherford wasn't going down easily. The Coyotes chipped away with strong shooting from Joey Madimba and cut the lead to 10 on a Jaden Rogers 3-pointer with 10:09 remaining in the game. A Rogers layup made it 56-48 McLennan with nine minutes to go. A pair of free throws bu Shogbnoyo put the Highlanders back up by 10, and Omarion Smith added one to make it a 11-point McLennan game with just under six minutes to play, 59-48. Weatherford cut the lead to nine with just a few ticks under four minutes remaining, 62-53. Madimba added a free throw and a CJ Evans layup pulled the Coyotes within six, 62-56, with under a minute to go. Weatherford began the deliberate fouling. Jaylen Thompson added a pair of McLennan free throws, and Wiggins responded with a pair for the Coyotes. Shogbonyo went 2-4 from the line to put the Highlanders up by eight, 66-58, with 16 seconds to play. Wiggins cut the lead back to six with a pair of Wiggins free throws but that would be as close as they could get.
Shogbonyo led the Highlanders with 23 points and Omarion Smith added 10.
McLennan: Nick Shogbonyo 7 7-11 23; CJ Hall 3 0-0 8; Dayvaughn Froe 2 2-2 8; Jaylen Thompson 0 4-4 4; A.J. Barnes 1 0-1 3; Jared Clawson 1 0-0 2; Omarion Smith 3 3-4 10; Mason Lockhart 3 0-0 6; Kaleb Pouncy 2 0-0 4; Khalif Allim 0 0-0 0; Totals: 22 16-22 68.
Weatherford: Wayne Wiggins 1 4-4 7; CJ Evans 2 0-0 4; Alex Daniels 0 0-0 0; Jaden Rogers 7 1-2 18; Rodney Johnson 2 3-4 8; Keynan Russell 0 0-0 0; Joey Madimba 6 7-11 21; Ramondo Battle 1 0-0 2; Totals: 19 15-21 60.
3-pointers: McLennan 8 (Shogbonyo 2, Hall 2, Froe 2, Barnes 1, Smith 1), Weatherford 7 (Rogers 3, Madimba 2, Wiggins 1, Johnson 1); Total fouls: McLennan 13, Weatherford 19; Fouled out: Pouncy (McLennan); Halftime score: McLennan 42, Weatherford 23; Record: McLennan 20-5 (7-2).
