By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Highland Park’s offensive onslaught against Piper Friday night boosted the Scots into the Class 5A boys state tournament with an 89-52 win at Highland Park.
It was a big night for the Scots’ trio of Bo Aldridge, Juan’Tario Roberts and Tre Richardson, with Aldridge leading the team with 27 points while Roberts added 20 points and Richardson 14.
Junior Bo Aldridge slams home a dunk as part of his 27-point night in Highland Park's 89-52 win over Piper in Friday's Class 5A sub-state final. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Senior Juan'Tario Roberts (left) scored 20 points in Highland Park's 89-52 win over Piper Friday night as the Scots earned a trip to the Class 5A state tournament. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
With Friday's win Highland Park earned its second trip to the 5A state tournament at Emporia's White Auditorium in three seasons while improving to 18-4.
“Arguably, this is one of the best teams I’ve had as a head coach,” Highland Park coach Mike Williams said. “This didn’t happen overnight. Nothing in this has happened easily. This has been one of the most successful seasons that we’ve had and it’s also been one of the most challenging (seasons) we’ve had.
“If you ask me how I’m doing, I can say I am doing pretty dang good.”
Besides the physical attributes that make Highland Park such an outstanding team, Williams said the culture in the locker room is created by the coaching staff and the players.
“This group loves being around each other,” Williams said. “That’s something that is second to none. I’ve been in locker rooms where groups struggled to get along with each other. When you have a group of young men who truly buy-in, not only in the program but buying into each other, that’s when you have something special.
“It makes me feel good on the inside knowing the guys care for each other and want to see them succeed.”
Behind Highland Park’s season has been an explosive offense.
Piper’s defense coming into Friday night’s contest had allowed over 70 points in a game one time in the entire 2021-2022 campaign. On Friday, Highland Park was only about five converted shots away from putting up 100 points on the board.
While the Scots’ won the game by nearly 40 points, the game was only separated by seven points heading into halftime.
In the blink of an eye, the game ran with the Scots as Highland Park outscored Piper in the second half, 50-20.
“I don’t believe anybody in the state has the athleticism that we do,” Richardson said. “What you see from us when we go out and show what we can do has come from hard work. We put the work in to be where we want to be.
“I’m confident in us and I’m confident that we can beat anybody.”
Williams and the rest of the coaching staff want the Scots to know that the job isn’t done yet.
“Winning tonight was an amazing feeling, but I don’t want tonight to be our biggest celebration,” Roberts said. “We have wanted to go to state and win the title since we’ve stepped on the court. I want to go get a ring.”
“It was a fun experience to cut the net down, but right now I’m trying to make sure we get our seniors where they need to go and they need to be holding up the state championship trophy,” Aldridge said. “We need to keep being aggressive and playing great defense. Our offense is going to show up regardless, we just need to ball out. At the end of the day, we are just going to focus on winning the next game.”
The Scots’ are hoping to keep a level head and they hope to do that by treating every game like it’s their last.
“We knew we were going to be at this point last spring,” Richardson said. “All we need is a win on Wednesday, a win of Friday and a win on Saturday. All we are concerned about is how we can win the day, every day.”
State pairings will be released after the conclusion of all sub-state tournaments.
HIGHLAND PARK BOYS 89, PIPER 52.
Highland Park 18 21 21 29 – 89
Piper 17 15 14 6 – 52
Highland Park (18-4) – Adams 4 0-1 9, Aldridge 10 5-7 25, Richardson 7 0-0 14, Kingcannon 4 0-0 9, Roberts 7 5-5 20, Drew-Gregory 2 1-1 5, Anderson 1 0-0 3, Davis 1 0-0 2, Clemons 1 0-0 2.
Piper (14-8) – Simmons 2 1-2 5, Briggs 6 4-7 16, Porter 2 0-0 4, Kerr 6 0-0 12, Walton 2 0-0 5, Martin 2 0-0 5, Ivansuka 1 0-0 3, Roth 1 0-0 2.
3-point goals – Highland Park 4 (Adams, Kingcannon, Roberts, Anderson), Piper 3 (Walton, Ivansuka, Martin). Team fouls – Highland Park 12, KC Piper 12. Fouled out -- none. Technical fouls – none.
