The Highland Hornets are still undefeated this season after their match against the Centennial Hawks on Saturday, but the Centennial Hawks came as close as anyone has to beating them. Highland sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 60-57 win over Centennial. Given Highland's advantage in MaxPreps' New Mexico basketball rankings (they are ranked 12th, while Centennial is ranked 66th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jesus Licon was his usual excellent self, scoring 38 points along with seven rebounds. The game was his fourth in a row with at least ten points. The team also got some help courtesy of Raul Stanford, who scored five points along with six assists and five rebounds.
Despite the defeat, Centennial had strong showings from Mikai Schuette, who scored 12 points along with seven rebounds and three steals, and Ben Walton, who scored 18 points. Brady Rewalt was another key contributor, scoring 11 points.
Highland pushed their record up to 4-0 with that win, which was their third straight at home. As for Centennial, they still haven't won a game yet this season and fell to 0-3.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Highland will take on Cibola at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday. Centennial is on the road again on Thursday and play against Manzano at 3:45 p.m. on December 14th. Averaging 70.3 so far this season, Manzano's high-powered offense has been in full-swing lately, so Centennial better be ready for a challenge.
