The McLennan Highlanders fell to the 14th-ranked Howard Hawks 81-64 on the opening day of the Western Texas Classic in Snyder.
The game was close through the majority of the first half. Howard secured the tip but McLennan's Kardae Turner quickly stole the ball and sprinted for a layup to begin the scoring. Howard built a four-point lead at 12-8 with 14:44 to go in the first half. The teams traded baskets with Howard leading by two, 19-17, with 9:35 on the clock. The Highlanders used a 7-0 run to take the 24-19 lead three minutes later. The Hawks in control from that point, taking the Tyler Mason free throw with just under four minutes on the clock and pushing the lead to 13 at the break, 41-28.
McLennan's shooters went cold to start the second half, allowing Howard to pull away. The Hawks pushed the lead to 20 with 17:21 remaining in the game, 50-30. McLennan wasn't going down without a fight. The Highlanders continued to battle. Howard led 63-42 with 8:28 to play. McLennan began to chip away at the lead and pulled within 10 on an Ari Gooch 3-pointer from the wing with 5:43 remaining in the game. That would prove to be as close as the Highlanders could get.
Ari Gooch led the Highlanders with 14 points. Evan Chatman and Rontavious Blackshear scored 12 and 11, respectively.
McLennan: Rontavious Blackshear 3 4-6 11; Joseph Mayberry 3 2-3 9; Kardae Turner 1 6-6 8; Amare Banks 1 0-0 2; Ari Gooch 4 4-5 14; Keegan Rowell 0 0-0 0; Evan Chatman 4 2-2 12; John McQueen 0 0-0 0; Frederick Rogers, III 3 0-1 6; Joe Burgess 0 0-0 0; Maximilian Blank 0 0-1 0; Totals: 19 18-25 64.
Howard: Jahki Gupton 4 1-2 11; Ejay Scroggins 0 0-0 0; Daniel Culberson 0 3-4 3; Preist Ryan 4 3-4 11; Alexzaye Johnson 4 2-2 11; Caleb Gaston 7 7-11 21; Kasen Kreusler 0 0-0 0; Tyler Mason 0 2-3 2; Mouhamadou Diagne 0 0-0 0; Tate Mackenzie 0 0-0 0; Keziah Ekissi6 7-7 22; Totals: 25 25-33 81.
Halftime score: Howard 41, McLennan 28; 3-pointers: McLennan 6 (Gooch 2, Chatman 2, Blackshear 1, Mayberry 1), Howard 6 (Ekissi 3, Gupton 2, Johnson 1); Total fouls: McLennan 27, Howard 22; Fouled out: Mayberry (McLennan); Record: McLennan 7-2.
