BY LUKE SERVELLO | LINK nky contributor
Highlands has been a fine-tuned machine on offense all season long, and the Bluebirds offensive success continued Tuesday night in a 101-85 home win over the Campbell County Camels.
The thing that was particularly impressive tonight for the Bluebirds was their ability to share the ball and get multiple guys involved. Six Bluebirds finished in double figures.
“I get in the paint more. So when other people help, I just kick it out to them for three. I know they’ll knock it down,” Bluebirds Nathan Vinson said, who finished with 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds.
The 101-point scoring output was the Bluebirds second time this year clearing the century mark as they’re averaging 91.5 points per game in their first six. Vinson’s passing ability a big reason why.
“He’s been very, very good all year long. We didn’t get a chance to see him much this summer because he was battling an injury. To his credit, his work that he put in in the offseason is showing now and he’s playing with a high degree of confidence. The guys have confidence in him and he is kind of the straw that stirs our drink. We’re able to make a lot of plays because of the things he can do with the basketball in his hand,” Bluebirds coach Kevin Listerman said.
Highlands will put their undefeated record on the line Friday night when they square off against the Cincinnati Trailblazers. Listerman hopes they can continue to build off their early season success.
“I thought tonight, particularly early, we did a great job rebounding. And that’s going to be a big key for us. As we go into January and February, how good can we play on the defensive end? What was nice tonight is we didn’t really press, we were able to sit down
in the half court and guard and we did a great job for about three and a half quarters,” Listerman said.
Campbell County struggled defensively. Aydan Hamilton led them in scoring with 20 points. Four other Camels finished in double figures. The Camels return to action on Friday when they play Bishop Brossart in a big 37th District showdown.