A hot shooting McLennan team was the difference in a 90-57 defeat for the Grayson Vikings on Saturday, Feb. 21.
After McLennan opened the game with a basket, Julian Greer was fouled on a three point attempt and sank all three free throws to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead early. After McLennan came back with a jumper, Judah Peña gave the Vikings the lead back with a free throw line jumper and a 5-4 lead.
An 8-0 run from McLennan put the Vikings in a 12-7 hole at the first media timeout, but out of the timeout, Caleb Alcineus drove the lane and finished the layup to bring the Vikings back within five. The deficit swelled to double digits, but the Vikings kept battling, getting six straight points from Peña to cut the deficit to seven at 21-14. The Highlanders stayed hot in the first half scoring 21 of the 35 points over the remainder of the first half and the Vikings faced a double digit deficit; 42-26 at the half.
In the second half, the Vikings kept battling, but the deficit was just too much to overcome as McLennan took the victory.
Peña led the team in scoring with 13 points, Alcineus and Greer each had 11 points. Alcineus and Gelonni Ervin led the team in rebounds with six, while Ervin chipped in three blocks. He's been a force on the defensive end since conference play began. He leads the team in blocks, averaging just over two a game on the season, but averaging close to four since the start of conference play.
The loss dropped the Vikings to sixth in the conference play, but a Region V Tournament berth is still very much in play. Grayson (3-7) sits behind fifth place Weatherford (4-8) and fourth place Ranger (5-6), but the Vikings currently own the tiebreaker over both schools by way of head-to-head wins earlier this year.
Grayson will close the season with three of their final four at home. They'll look to sweep the season series with Weatherford and Ranger this week.
They'll take on the Coyotes for the pinkout game on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7pm before traveling to Ranger on Saturday, Feb. 28.