In a hard fought battle, the McLennan Highlanders dropped tonight's conference contest with the Ranger Rangers 93-81.
Ranger was on fire from the 3-point line early on to take control and build a 13-point lead at 17-4 with 14 minutes to play in the first half. The Highlanders began to rally behind strong shooting from Nick Shogbonyo and used a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to pull within two, 18-16. Ranger added bucket from Harry Santiago to make it a four-point lead at 20-16. A 3-point play by Daylon Dickerson followed by a pair of free throws from Antwone Gonzales gave the Highlanders their first lead of the contest at 21-20 with 9:24 to go in the half. McLennan and Ranger kept it close the rest of the way. The Highlanders continue to lead by one, 32-31, with 4:40 on the clock. A 6-0 McLennan run with four points from Jaden Walker and two from Shogbonyo pushed the lead to six, 37-31. Ranger rallied to take a one-point lead on an Andrew Holifield 3-pointer with less than a minute to go but an Antwone Gonzales 3-pointer on the Highlanders next possession gave McLennan the two-point lea at the break, 42-40.
The second half would be just as back-and-forth as the first had been. Ranger created a little distance late in the game, leading by five with eight minutes to play 71-66. Anthony Medlock added back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner for the Rangers to push the lead to 11, 77-66. The Highlanders rallied to pull within seven at 86-79 with just over three minutes to play but was unable to get any closer.
Nick Shogbonyo led the Highlanders with 29 points, and Daylon Dickerson scored 16. Antwone Gonzales and Landon Anderson added 14 and 11, respectively.
Ranger: Kaylon Mason 4 2-3 10; Sharrod Taylor 5 2-3 16; Anthony Medlock 3 0-0 8; Harry Santiago 1 0-0 2; Addison Archer 0 0-0 0; Asjon Anderson 4 5-7 14; Andrew Holifield 2 3-4 8; Demarco Bethea 7 7-11 21; Elisha Warren 5 0-0 14; Totals: 31 19-28 93.
McLennan: Daylon Dickerson 4 8-9 16; Nick Shogbonyo 7 9-10 24; Jaden Juarez 1 0-0 2; Antwone Gonzales 3 7-7 14; Landon Anderson 4 3-4 11; Cameron Crockett 4 1-1 9; Jaden Walker 2 1-2 5; Totals: 25 29-33 81.
Halftime score: McLennan 42, Ranger 40; 3-pointers: Ranger 12 (Warren 4, Taylor 4, Medlock 2, Anderson 1, Holifield 1), McLennan 2 (Shogbonyo 1, Anderson 1); Total fouls: Ranger 22, McLennan 19; Fouled out: Medlock (Ranger), Taylor (Ranger), Crockett (McLennan); Record: McLennan 15-7 (2-4).
