The McLennan Highlanders continued their run through North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference play with a 90-53 win over the Hill Rebels on Sophomore Day this afternoon at The Highlands.
It was a tight game throughout the first half. Both teams started slow, and Hill held the 6-3 lead with 17:15 to play in the first half. McLennan took the lead with a pair of Evan Chatman free throws two minutes later. Those free throws started the were part of 14-0 run putting the Highlanders up 17-6 with 11:54 to go in the half. McLennan held that cushion for the majority of the half. Hill cut the lead to six, 32-26, with two minutes to go. An Amare Banks 3-pointer followed by a Joseph Mayberry layup put McLennan back up by 11 and they held it to the half, 39-28.
The Highlanders broke the game open in the early in the second half, opening with a 12-2 run covering five minutes of play, 51-30. The Rebels were never able to recover. McLennan led by as much as 40 down the stretch as they cruised to the lopsided victory.
Amare Banks led McLennan with 16 points , and Keegan Rowell added 14. Rontavious Blackshear and Evan Chatman score 12 each, and Frederick Rogers III chipped in 11.
Hill: Andrew Robinson 3 1-2 7; Theodoros Panagiotopoulos Andritsopoulos 1 0-0 3; Derrick Morris 6 0-0 13; Joshua Campbell 1 0-0 3; Kemauri Mellender 5 4-7 19; Tahmar Mann 1 0-2 2; Stefan Todorovic 1 0-0 3; Quincy Owens 0 3-5 3; Totals: 18 8-16 53.
McLennan: Rontavious Blackshear 4 0-0 12; Joseph Mayberry 3 3-4 9; Kardae Turner 0 0-0 0; Amare Banks 6 1-2 16; Ari Gooch 4 0-0 9; Keegan Rowell 5 0-0 14; Evan Chatman 3 6-6 12; John McQueen 1 0-0 2; Frederick Rogers, III 5 1-1 11; Joe Burgess 0 1-4 1; John Ateny 0 0-0 0; Maximilian Blank 2 1-2 5; Totals: 33 13-19 90.
Halftime score: McLennan 39, Hill 28; 3-pointers: Hill 6 (Andritsopoulos 1, Morris 1, Mellender 2, Campbell 1, Todorovic 1), McLennan 12 (Rowell 4, Blackshear 4, Banks 3, Gooch 1); Total fouls: Hill 11, McLennan 13; Record: McLennan 23-5 (10-2).
