The Highland Hornets scored the most points they've had all season to find success on Friday. They blew past Manzano 85-65. The win was familiar territory for Highland who now have three in a row.
Highland was led to victory by Raul Stanford and Jesus Licon. Stanford scored 22 points along with nine assists and seven rebounds, while Licon went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 26 points and 8 assists. That's the first time this season that Licon posted eight or more assists. Owen Cheng was another key contributor, scoring 15 points.
When it comes to explaining why Manzano lost, one person who can't be blamed is Donavan Rhodes. Despite the final result, he scored 26 points. Rhodes has been hot recently, having posted 15 or more points the last three times he's played. Another player making a difference was Shane Erni, who scored 11 points.
Highland is on a roll lately: they've won seven of their last nine games, which provided a nice bump to their 13-4 record this season. As for Manzano, they are on a eight-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-11.
Highland will look to defend their home court on Friday against Belen at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Belen's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last seven matches. As for Manzano, they will head out on the road to square off against Los Lunas at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Los Lunas presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Manzano in New Mexico (Los Lunas is ranked 17th, while Manzano is ranked 68th).
