By JUSTIN BURKHARDT
TopSports.news
Highland Park boys basketball hosted Kansas City-Harmon in a Meadowlark Conference matchup Friday on Winter Royalty night, with the Scots snapping a three-game losing streak with an 80-43 rout over the Hawks.
Highland Park junior JoJo Kingcannon scored a career-high 35 points in Friday's 80-43 Meadowlark Conference win over KC-Harmon. [File photo/TSN]
The Scots would get off to a hot start, with junior JoJo Kingcannon going on a 9-0 run to start the game and scoring 12 of the team’s first 15 point’s in the contest.
The Scots would start the game with a 20-0 run before Harmon would find the basket with a free throw to make it 20-1.
Highland Park would end the first quarter with a 23-8 lead.
“JoJo's been scoring very well for us,'' Highland Park coach Nate Wallace said. "He's close to around 20 a game, if not a little more at this point. I never worry about JoJo. JoJo's locked in, JoJo's bought in, JoJo's a leader. He's a captain and when he brings that type of energy to the game, it makes it easier for the other guys.”
“(I'm) just feeling my shot, being confident in myself,'' Kingcannon said. "Sometimes I get down on myself, but I just know I can't do it as a leader of this team. So it's just the confidence part. I've just got to keep myself motivated and once I'm motivated, I just know that would get the team motivated.”
Harmon would start the second quarter with a 3-pointer before the Scots would go on a 12-2 run to go up 35-12.
The Scots would go into halftime up 44-24, with Kingcannon having 25 points on 10-11 shooting from the field at halftime and finishing with a career-high 35 points.
The second half would be much like the first as the Scots would out-score the Hawks 28-10 in the third, forcing a running clock in the fourth quarter.
“This win was good because we did take a bad loss to Shawnee Heights (Thursday), but just to get another win and going into next week with more confidence with each other (is big). And we're just going to keep it moving.” Kingcannon said.
The Scots will host the Topeka Invitational Tournament next Thursday through Saturday, goinig up against Wichita Northwest in the first round on Thursday.
“We've got a good Wichita Northwest team that we're going to see,'' Wallace said. "And we’ll be on the top side of the bracket with Topeka West. So depending on how (things) fall, we get a chance to get a city rival. We always enjoy the city rival games. Kids get pumped up for them, always been that way. So as we get prepared, we'll be ready to go.”
Highland Park's girls picked up a forfeit win over Harmon on Friday.
HIGHLAND PARK 80, KC-HARMON 43
KC-Harmon 8 15 10 10 -- 43
Highland Park 23 19 28 10 — 80
KC-Harmon (1-8 0-4) -- Sanders 3-7 2-4 10, Hughes 2-6 4-4 10, Sparks 2-8 2-4 6, Taylor 1-3 0-2 2, White 1-6 0-0 2, Allikas 2-2 0-0 4, Brewer 1-1 1-2 3, Edelen 1-1 0-0 2, Lopez 1-3 0-0 2, McCarty 1-5 0-0 2, Abdul 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-42 9-16 43.
Highland Park -- (3-7 3-2) — Kingcannon 14-16 3-5 35, Anderson 6-10 0-0 12, Mitchell 4-5 0-0 8, Drew 2-5 0-0 5, Montgomery 1-5 0-0 3, Nance 4-6 0-0 9, Z. McMillon 1-3 3-4 5, Smith 1-2 0-0 3, L.McMillon 0-1 0-0 0, Pollard 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 33-55 6-9 80.
3-point goals -- Harmon 3 (Hughes 2, Sanders), Highland Park 8 (Kingcannon 4, Drew, Montgomery, Nance, Smith). Total Fouls -- Harmon 9, Highland Park 21. Fouled out -- None.
