by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Highland took another major step towards a Jayhawk Conference championship and a berth in the NJCAA Division II national rankings Wednesday with a 70-53 home court win over Kansas City Kansas Community College.
“They are very good. They play hard, play together and are a very hard team to defeat,” KCKCC Coach Kelley Newton said.
The only undefeated team in Jayhawk (2-0) and Region VI (3-0) play, the Scotties started the week with a 71-57 win over No. 20 ranked Johnson County. On a 5-game winning streak, Highland is 16-4 overall, the best record in the conference.
Meanwhile, KCKCC fell to 2-1 in regional play heading into a home doubleheader with Fort Scott Saturday at 2 and 4 p.m. Deadlocked with KCKCC in the region, the Greyhounds are 2-1 in the Jayhawk and 10-11 overall.
Stephon Jackson, a 6-foot freshman guard, was the catalyst for the Scotties. KCKCC trailed just 24-16 with four minutes left in the half only to have Jackson hit four straight 3-pointers to balloon the Highland lead to 38-23 at halftime and the Blue Devils were never able to get close although outscoring the Scotties 32-30 in the second half.
Jon Murray led KCKCC with 14 points, six rebounds and two blocks while Artavious Banks had 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in his first start. Mike Lee and Kellen Turner each had nine points and Lane Hartley eight to account for all but three of the rest of the 53 points. Lee also led in assists with four along with six rebounds.
Jackson led three Scotties in double figures with 24 points including 16 the opening half. He was 6-of-10 from three-point as the Scotties were 41.7 percent from distance to just 4-of-17 for KCKCC (.235). Highland also won the rebound battle 36-26 with Jackson leading the way with eight.