By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Even without key senior standouts Bo Aldridge and Quentin Adams for undisclosed reasons, top-ranked (Class 5A) Highland Park performed at an extremely high level in an 80-51 Meadowlark Conference romp past No. 1 (4A) Atchison Tuesday night at Hi Park.
Atchison has lost just twice on the season, with both losses coming at the hands of Highland Park, which defeated the Phoenix 66-47 earlier in the year.
Highland Park senior Tre Richardson scored a game-high 25 points as the Scots remained unbeaten with an 80-51 win over Atchison Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Similar to Highland Park, Atchison has consistently rolled over opponents in the 2023 campaign and Scots coach Mike Williams admitted that Tuesday's victory was one of the most fulfilling victories he has had in his tenure at Highland Park due to how his team played a high-quality opponent without some of its key pieces.
“Initially, if you’re down two starters, people will think that we are down, but our guys aren’t thinking that at all,” Williams said. “Everyone probably came in here thinking that we won’t be as good, but our guys’ mindset didn’t change. That’s the special thing about this group; we have kids that can do a wide variety of things on the basketball court.”
Tuesday night wasn’t the first time Highland Park had to make additions and subtractions within its lineup this season. Players have been out occasionally with injuries, school activities, travel basketball and more.
During the off-season Williams said it was a point of emphasis for Highland Park to play a technically sound brand of basketball regardless of who the Scots did or didn’t have suited up to hit the court.
“We were able to pull from those experiences when we were missing guys this evening,” Williams said. “Since it wasn’t the first time we played under-manned, it was easy for us to go back and talk about those experiences and types of games. We play a certain style, and tonight we didn’t do that as much. We played a lot of zone tonight, but it worked. Not only did it work, but it also gave us some flexibility to do a lot of different things.”
A catalyst for Highland Park earning its 13th 20-plus point victory of the year was the game that Tre Richardson had. Despite usually being the guard with a pass-heavy role, Richardson had a game-high 25 points.
Richardson’s night was highly-productive and was more than just the hefty amount of points the senior put on the board.
His ability to find the open man with his natural ball-handling skills and court vision gave the Scots a significant edge over an Atchison team which wasn’t as quick as Highland Park.
“Our conversation going in was that Tre needed to be an alpha tonight,” Williams said. “I started a group chat, got in guys’ ears and wanted to see us get locked in. When the deck is stacked against you, you have to bring it more for your group, and (Richardson) did that. He set the tone and gave the guys next to him confidence.”
The tempo for Richardson allowed the Scots to break away in its fast-break offense.
Jahmir Kingcannon, who had nine points off of three 3-pointers, was one of the beneficiaries with his ability to shoot beyond the perimeter.
Highland Park also got some key contributions from Jacorey Robinson and Tamir Anderson.
Robinson was the anchor down low, while Anderson’s reliable sharp shooting made the duo an overwhelming distraction for Atchison.
Anderson executed his Ray Allen-type of role perfectly on Tuesday night, finishing with 15 points off of five 3-point shots. Robinson earned his 14 points down in the low block.
“Tamir is shooting the mess out of it right now,” Williams said. “(Anderson) is a kid that deserves credit. He puts all of the work in. (Anderson) legitimately puts up about a thousand shots a night. Seeing what he is doing is not a surprise in our locker room; we see it all the time. If he misses a couple of shots, we want him to keep shooting. Credit to that young man and his family for experiencing what he is experiencing right now.
“With Jacorey (Robinson), he’s a unicorn. (Robinson) is one of the most skilled players around; he can do anything. He can deck it, shoot it, float it, create it, run the offense, finish around the rim, and take charges… so he’s a kid that can do everything. (Robinson) gets bottled up because he’s surrounded by good players around and in front of him, but he will be a special talent around the city.”
The contest wasn’t particularly close throughout the four quarters. The Scots jumped to a 20-6 first-quarter run and didn’t look back. Highland Park averaged 20 points a quarter with its foot on the gas and didn’t let a solid Atchison team sniff at a victory.
Eight different Scots players scored, and the team shot the ball efficiently, making 53 percent of its shots (33 of 62).
Highland Park (16-0, 8-0) will hit the road Wednesday to take on Meadowlark Conference opponent Kansas City-Schlagle (1-14).
HIGHLAND PARK BOYS 80, ATCHISON 51.
Atchison 9 13 13 16 – 51
Highland Park 20 19 22 19 – 80
Atchison (15-2, 7-2) – Hernandez 3-4 0-0 8, Purdy 3-6 0-0 6, Carter 0-3 2-4 2, Greenly 8-12 1-2 17, Rowley 3-8 0-0 7, Bowen 2-5 1-2 7, Smith III 1-1 0-0 2, Richards 1-3 0-0 2. Totals – 21-42 4-8 51.
Highland Park (16-0, 8-0) – Richardson 12-19 1-4 25, Kingcannon 3-9 0-0 9, Wilson 1-3 0-0 2, Robinson 6-9 2-4 14, Anderson 5-8 0-0 15, Taylor 2-5 0-0 4, Drew-Gregory 2-2 0-0 4, Williams Jr. 3-6 0-0 7, Davis 0-1 0-0 0. Totals – 33-62 3-8 80.
3-point goals – Atchison 5 (Hernandez 2, Bowen 2, Rowley), Highland Park 9 (Anderson 5, Kingcannon 3, Williams Jr.),Total fouls – Atchison 11, Highland Park 8. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
