By KYLE MANTHE
The Washburn Review
Two teams on the boys side with high expectations in the Centennial league met Friday night as 2-0 Highland Park visited 1-1 Washburn Rural.
Michael Williams' Scots squad brought energy to the matchup to earn a 55-40 road victory, led by a star-like performance from junior Ketraleus Aldridge, who had 29 points and multiple high-flying blocks.
“It’s kind of a rivalry game because I kinda used to go to this school, so I knew there was going to be a lot of haters and a lot of supporters, but my mindset was mainly just getting the win and I happened to have a great night,” Aldridge said.
Ketraleus Aldridge led the way with a game-high 29 points as Highland Park claimed a 55-40 Centennial League road win at Highland Park. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
The Highland Park win moved the Scots to a perfect 3-0 on the season, while the Junior Blues dropped to 1-2.
Washburn Rural jumped out to a 6-2 lead early but Highland Park locked in defensively, holding the Junior Blues to just eight points in the quarter. On the other end Aldridge scored seven early points to help the Scots take a 9-8 lead after one.
“They played our guards very physical and it kept us from getting where we wanted to get to,” said Washburn Rural coach Kevin Muff.
A five-point burst by senior Brock Howard tied the game at 15 for Washburn Rural as Aldridge continued to hit tough shots, ending the half with 15 points.
“To be honest I think Bo (Aldridge) is the best player in the city, with the most upside,” Williams said. “He is just a big-time competitor.”
Junior Jack Bachelor provided five of his seven first-half points for the Junior Blues in the quarter but it was not enough as the Scots possessed a 21-18 lead at the break.
“We kind of started off rusty on ball screen defense and stuff like that, but we practice defense so much in practice to where we are a good enough team to try and clean it up at the end,” Aldridge said.
Both offenses picked up pace which for Highland Park started with senior Juan’Tario Roberts who scored nine points in the first six minutes of the second half after not scoring in the first half.
“So many people want to carry an offense for an entire game and that’s tough. But if you can carry us in stretches when we need buckets that is important, and he did that,” Williams said.
Senior Quincey Kidd was active, scoring four points for Washburn Rural in the quarter but a driving layup by Roberts with six seconds on the clock made it a 37-31 game heading into the fourth.
Aldridge took over again for Highland Park, starting the quarter with his second alley-oop dunk of the game and following it with a 3-pointer, extending the lead to double-digits with 6:36 remaining.
Five points from junior Jahmir Kingcannon grew the lead to as many as 16 points. The Scots slowed down the pace to drain the clock from that point. A 3-pointer by Washburn Rural junior Tre Morris made it a 13-point game with over two minutes left, which is as close as it would get.
Baskets by Aldridge and Roberts iced the game for Highland Park as they left the road game with a 15-point victory.
“This is my first win over here in four years of being the coach at Highland Park,” Williams said. “If you can get on the road and beat quality teams you are gaining steps for an ultimate goal to be challenging for a Centennial league title.”
“We got some things to figure out about our team and how we are going to respond to this and find some answers,” Muff said.
Bachelor led Washburn Rural with nine points while Howard and junior Jacob Hirschi each added seven.
The Scots only had five players score led by Aldridge's 29-point night along with 13 from Roberts.
Each team will hit the road next week with the Junior Blues heading to Hayden and Highland Park traveling to Seaman.
WASHBURN RURAL BOYS 40, HIGHLAND PARK 55
Washburn Rural 8 10 13 9 -- 40
Highland Park 9 12 16 18 -- 55
Washburn Rural (1-2, 0-1) -- Kidd 2 2-2 6, Morris 1 0-0 3, Hirschi 3 0-0 7, Bachelor 4 0-0 9, Durst 2 0-2 4, J.C. Heim 1 0-0 2, Howard 3 0-0 7, Hanks 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 2-4 40.
Highland Park (3-0, 0-0) -- Adams 0 0-0 0, Aldridge 12 3-4 29, Richardson 2 0-0 4, McMillon 0 0-0 0, Drew-Gregory 0 0-0 0, Kingcannon 3 0-0 7, Clemmons 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Robinson 1 0-0 2, Roberts 5 2-2 13, Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 5-6 55.
3-point goals – Washburn Rural 4 (Morris 1, Hirschi 1, Bachelor 1, Howard 1), Highland Park 4 (Aldridge 2, Kingcannon 1, Roberts 1). Total fouls – Washburn Rural 7, Highland Park 11. Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None.
