Earlier this year in a tournament prior to district play, South San gave San Antonio Stevens the business on their way to a 19 point win. You've got to figure this game to be much tighter. Any team coached by Gary Durbon and Ray Carroll is going to be TOUGH minded defensively. That's a given. I like Stevens athleticism though as they've got two future D1 players in two athletic 2012's Uche Ofoegbu & Marcus Roper. And let's not forget that on the other side of the ball is the Big Man, Gabe Rivera who at 6'8" is a load to contend with.
With one quarter in the books, Stevens leads 21-9 on 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. Uche Ofoegbu has owned the boards over the larger Bobcats with 5 rebounds in the quarter. At the half, it's Stevens up 37-22. The good news for South San is that Stevens can't shoot it any better. The bad news is..they did. At least for a half. It's not bad D by South San, it's that the Falcons are "en fuego". Seven threes & 8-9 from the charity stripe.
Ofoegbu keeps upping his game to another level
The 3rd quarter was evenly played and now South San really has their work cut out for them to overcome a 46-31 deficit. No such luck in the 4th quarter. South San never threatened as Uche Ofoegbu finished with 17 points & 14 rebounds. He was all over the place, deflecting balls as well. Senior Eliot Mills added 13 points & 8 boards & Roper dropped 15. Sneion Jake Quinones led South San with 20 points & Senior Jeremy Bazan battled all night inside and had 7 points & 6 rebounds as they end their careers.
San Antonio Highlands 66 San Antonio Warren 59
Highlands best player, 6'2" Senior G William Knowles will have his work cut out for him tonight but he's capable of putting up 30 points on anyone. That's why San Jacinto JC (27-2) are here to watch him. He won't get to the bucket unabated though as 2012 F Taurean Waller-Prince, a shot blocking machine will be protecting the rim. The wild card could be how many points 2012 G Jerell Ellis can give his Warren Warriors.
After one quarter Highlands is up 18-14. Both teams are out running in transition. Knowles was dominant physically early. Warren takes their first lead 24-23 midway through the 2nd on a resounding breakaway dunk by Waller-Prince. The run was fueled by 8 Highlands turnovers in 4 minutes. A 14-6 run by Highlands puts them up 37-30 at the break. Waller-Prince is being denied touches on the offensive end and Ellis isn't hitting. If Warren wants to win, that's got to change. Knowles is having his way with 11 points & 5 assists.
Waller-Prince (below) had a great game but Knowles help was better
At the end of 3 quarters it's 50-43 Highlands. Game time! The foul count has Warren shooting free throws already. They may need that to claw back into this one. Sure enough, with 2:47 left to play Warren has hit 6-8 from the stripe and it's now 56-56. The Warriors are on an 8-0 run and will shoot two more from the line. They missed them both! Knowles hits two free throws and then Waller-Prince answers back with an "And 1" for the 59-58 lead. A bucket and 5 Knowles free throws and Highlands gets the upset win 66-59.
Knowles led Highlands with 27 points, 8 assists & 6 rebounds. Taurean Waller-Prince 20 points, 13 rebounds and 5 blocks but it was not enough. 2013 G Marcus Keen had 16 for the Warriors, while 2013 Roland Love had 13 for Highlands & Senior Gregory Knight added 12.
