Lake Highlands basketball defeated Richardson 63-50 at home on Tuesday behind tough defense and a collective offensive effort.
This season, the Eagles (11-11, 2-2 District 7-6A) have been led by senior Lucas Sutherland. In last week’s win over Jesuit, Sutherland hit four 3-pointers and notched 27 points to lead Richardson.
He managed 17 points against Lake Highlands, leading all scorers, but the Wildcats (12-8, 4-0) made him uncomfortable throughout. That all came to a head late in the game, with Lake Highlands leading 59-50 with just 37 seconds left.
The Eagles were inbounding under their own basket, comeback possible but unlikely, and threw the ball deep in the backcourt for Sutherland to retrieve. There was just one issue. The Wildcats’ Syncere Anderson played the pass perfectly, breaking up the attempt before Sutherland even had a chance.
With the ball loose, Anderson dove on it and then flipped it to Eli Johnson, whose layup effectively iced the game.
Rather than Sutherland, it was Jasper Ngokwere who got started hot for the Eagles. The 6-foot-6 big man feasted early against Lake Highlands, using his strength and feathery touch to give Richardson a quick 4-0 lead with 5:45 left in the first.
After the spurt, the Wildcats honed in on Ngokwere, holding him scoreless until late in the second quarter. After six first-half points, he woke back up, scoring eight in the second half to bring his total to 14.
Down early, Lake Highlands opened scoring as guard Jamion Broom curled into the lane for a lay-in to make it 4-2. The Wildcats quickly peeled off a 7-2 run before Sutherland got into the paint, scoring on a floater in the final seconds of the first to bring the Eagles within 9-8.
Lake Highlands, coming off a 75-36 victory at Irving Nimitz, responded in the second quarter. After the Wildcats’ Uyiosa Osawemwenze spun and scored to extend the lead to 25-19, Lake Highlands forced a miss on the other end.
Osawemwenze rebounded, pushing ahead to an open teammate, but Richardson tracked it down and forced a miss on the fastbreak layup. Then, after rebounding the miss, the Eagles threw an errant pass that was intercepted by the Wildcats.
Johnson secured the turnover and drove to the rim for Lake Highlands’ second chance at a bucket in mere moments. Out of nowhere came Richardson guard Jayden Blair, who got up for an impressive chasedown block.
When it felt like the sequence couldn’t get any wilder, the Eagles threw another bad pass and the Wildcats recovered once more. This time, Lake Highlands was able to score on a short shot from Jay’Sean Wilkerson, giving the Wildcats the 27-19 lead they’d take into halftime.
Lake Highlands exploded in the third, outscoring Richardson 19-10 in the quarter. Osawemwenze punctuated the effort as the period came to a close, slamming home a two-handed dunk after Henry Moore found him open in the paint to make it 46-29.
That was the second big Wildcat dunk of the quarter. The first came from Miller Mask as the big man switched out onto the perimeter, stole the ball from the Eagles and ran the length of the floor for a one-handed throwdown midway through the third.
Despite a flurry of shot-making from Richardson in the fourth, Lake Highlands was able to stave off any real comeback attempt and hold on to remain unbeaten in district play.
Johnson led scoring with 13 points for the Wildcats. Just behind him on the score sheet was Broom with 12. Anderson and Osawemwenze each added 10 in the win.
The Eagles will next face off against MacArthur (9-9, 1-2) at 7 p.m. on Friday at home.
Lake Highlands returns to action at 6:30 p.m. Friday on the road at Irving (3-13, 0-3).
