By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
Two city boys basketball teams battled on Thursday night at Shawnee Heights as the host T-Birds took a 76-53 non-conference victory over Highland Park.
Junior Cam Ross led Shawnee Heights with a game-high 28 points in Thursday's 76-53 non-league win over city rival Highland Park.
The first four minutes of the game saw both teams trade buckets and Shawnee Heights led 10-8. But the T-Birds went on a 12-3 run to build a 22-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Junior Cam Ross scored the first basket of the second quarter and the T-Birds extended their lead to 28-11 before the Scots were able to score. The teams went back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter and Shawnee Heights took a 41-27 lead into the halftime break.
Both teams were very efficient on offense in the third quarter, with the T-Birds outscoring the Scots, 21-18.
Senior Ja’Veon Alston scored eight points for the T-Birds in the quarter while fellow senior JaiMarion Cook dropped in five. The Scots had two players score six points each in the quarter -- juniors G’honi Montgomery and JoJo Kingcannon.
Shawnee Heights led 62-45 going into the final quarter and were able to empty their bench over the final two minutes while capping the 23-point victory.
The T-Birds finished the game shooting 28 of 42 from the field for 67 percent and 60 percent from the 3-point line (9 of 15).
The T-Birds were led by three in double figures -- Ross with 28 points, Alston with 16 and Cook with 13.
The Scots had two in double figures, led by Kingcannon with 22 points while Ke’Sioun Drew dropped in 12.
Shawnee Heights improved to 6-4 on the season and will be in action on Saturday with a road game at Gardner-Edgerton. Highland Park fell to 2-7 on the season and will play at home Friday against Kansas City-Harmon.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 76, HIGHLAND PARK 53
Highland Park 11 16 18 8 -- 53
Shawnee Heights 22 19 21 14 -- 76
Highland Park (2-7) -- Anderson 1-8 0-0 2, Montgomery 0-1 3-6 3, Drew 4-13 0-0 12, Mitchell 2-4 1-2 6, Kingcannon 10-17 0-1 22, L. McMillon 0-2 0-0 0, Pollard 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-1 1-2 4, Nance 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 20-49 5-11 53.
Shawnee Heights (6-4) -- Alston 5-9 4-6 16, Cook 5-6 0-0 13, Ross 10-16 5-6 28, Scott 3-4 2-2 9, Wallace 2-4 0-0 4, Lee 1-1 0-0 2, Halloran 1-1 0-0 2, Becker 0-0 0-0 0, Vega 0-0 0-0 0, Terrell 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-42 11-14 76.
3-point goals -- Highland Park 8 (Drew 4, Kingcannon 2, Mitchell, Smith), Shawnee Heights 9 (Cook 3, Ross 3, Alston 2, Scott). Total fouls -- Highland Park 14, Shawnee Heights 15. Fouled out -- L. McMillon. Technical fouls -- none.
