Road games in the Ninth Region are not easy.
Lloyd Memorial’s boys basketball team experienced that firsthand as they escaped Fort Thomas with a 58-55 win over Highlands.
“We handled the environment well,” Juggernauts head coach Michael Walker said
“They’re well coached and coming here to Highlands, it’s always a hard place to win
in. We knew we were going to have to play in tough games with tough environments
and that’s why I made the schedule the way I did.”
With Lloyd’s EJ Walker being double and triple-teamed throughout the
night, Elijah Collins got hot early and never looked back.
Hitting six triples of the team’s nine, he led the Juggernauts with 23 points.
“Once I hit the first one, I knew they were going in, I was feeling it. I knew it was one
of those nights and I told my teammates that. They were finding me, and I just kept
letting it fly,” Collins said.
Walker followed with 17 points, making Lloyd a much tougher team to guard.
“I was able to play inside, but also step out and hit a three,” Walker said “I’m used to
the double teams and triple teams so if I don’t have the look right away, I’m able to
pass out. They were worried about me the whole time, so it opened it for Elijah and
they didn’t adjust to it.”
Anthony Blaackar added 11 points as well for the Juggernauts, who won their 13th out of their last 14 games.
Highlands was shorthanded with two of their top three leading scorers, Brayden
Moeves and Hank Shick out due to injuries, but the Bluebirds didn’t have to look far
for someone to step up.
Nathan Vinson took care of that.
The senior finished with 42 of the 55 Highlands points, hitting the 1,000-point mark
in the process.
“He’s such a tireless worker.” Bluebird head coach, Kevin Listerman said “He knew
that with some guys being out that it was going to fall on his shoulders, and he
absolutely stepped up and carried the offensive load. At one point we had four
sophomores and he was out there and he did a great job leading on both ends. He
had to put on the Superman cape tonight and he did. I’m awfully encouraged of how
he’s carrying us down the stretch.”
In the end, the Bluebirds just didn’t have enough firepower.
“We needed a couple guys to make some shots.” Listerman said “We got some good
looks they just didn’t go in. On defense, we let Collins get loose on a couple of threes
in our zone, and we didn’t find him soon enough. He deserves credit, he knocked
them down.”
Both teams traded the lead in the beginning. Highlands led 11-9 at the end of the first, but 10 points from EJ Walker in the second quarter tied it up at 20 heading into
halftime.
It was Elijah Collins’ turn in the third quarter. He had 11 points to give the
Juggernauts a 43-38 lead after the three.
Highlands cut the score to 53-51 with three minutes left, but Lloyd closed the game out with five free throws to move to 18-5 overall and 9-1 in the Ninth Region.
“To win in this region is a grind, but we just take it one game at a time,” Coach
Michael Walker said. “We were thinking about getting one percent better and
focusing on us. We’re trying to save our legs because we’ve got a tough February
coming up. We just need to get through this month and then we get to districts.
That’s what I’m really focused on.”
The Juggernauts stay on the road for a battle with Oldham County Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Highlands falls to 14-11, but have a chance to bounce back Saturday night on the
road against Montgomery County at 7:30 p.m.
JUGGERNAUTS 58, BLUEBIRDS 55
LLOYD MEMORIAL — 9-11-23-15 — 58
HIGHLANDS — 11-9-18-17— 55
Scoring
LLOYD MEMORIAL (58) — Collins 23, Walker 17, Blaackar 11, Bresser
3, Humphrey 2, Sebastian 2
HIGHLANDS (55) — Vinson 32, Ebert 8, Bouldin 2, Listerman 2,
Rickard 1
Game Stats
3-Pointers: Highlands 4, Lloyd 9
Free Throws: Highlands 15/20, Lloyd 15/24
Fouls: Highlands 13, Lloyd 13
Records: Highlands 14-11, Lloyd 18-5