A huge night from Ed Wright propelled the Allen Red Devils to their fourth straight win, and third in conference play. Allen defeated Highland Community College 78-59 on Tuesday night. The win is the fourth straight double-digit win for the Red Devils.
The game started out like a see-saw, up and down for much of the first half. But then Ed Wright came to life and made the Scotties think twice about their game plan. Allen led 16-13 early but once Wright started heating up, that lead ballooned.
Eventually, Highland would start to mount a charge of their own and storm back to make the game closer. Allen led 31-29 at the break.
In the second half, it all unraveled for the Scotties.
Multiple turnovers provided extra possessions and shots for the Red Devils. That combination was lethal for the Scotties against a team that shoots as well as the Red Devils.
Allen’s lead grew to 17 points late in the game and was capped by a thunderous dunk from Zabriel Boozer. The dunk lit the fans up and caused them to go wild, already helping to disturb what Highland was trying to do on offense by making noise.
The noise cranked up when Allen grew its lead to 20 points with just two minutes left. The Red Devil defense suffocated the Scotties and made life hard all night but especially in the last three minutes of the game.
Highland got a few cheap points in garbage time to claw back the lead a bit, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the onslaught of the Red Devils.
“In the second half we shot the ball with more confidence,” said Allen head coach Andy Shaw. “I didn’t see us winning by that margin but I was proud of our effort in the second half and of our toughness. We executed, got to the rim, and finished better in the second half.”
Wright led the way with 31 points. Cedric Rollerson and Scottie Turner both had 12. Brayden Thompson had nine. Nick Whittick scored six. Cory Reynolds scored three. Zabriel Boozer and Malachi Martin both had two. Brandon Lawrence scored one.
The Red Devils face Neosho County in Chanute on Saturday for a big matchup. Allen is 14-4 and undefeated in conference play.
With two weeks left before a mammoth showdown against undefeated No. 2 Johnson County, each game is crucial in its preparation.
