Heights comes alive in second half
It’s difficult to imagine a place where 6-foot-8 Perry Ellis can blend in, let alone on a basketball court where the Heights senior has earned a scholarship next season to the University of Kansas.
But his presence went largely unnoticed through the first half of Friday night’s game against East, as Ellis accounted for a single made basket and rebound.
“I told Perry at halftime, ‘You disappeared,’” Heights coach Joe Auer said. “You cannot be a four-year starter and excuse yourself from five minutes, which he did.”
Message received. Ellis scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 52 games in front of a standing-room only crowd, courtesy of a 70-60 home victory over East for the No. 1-ranked Falcons (8-0, 7-0 City League).
“We talked about it at halftime and I came out and played real hard and good things happened,” said Ellis, who was recognized before the game as Heights’ all-time leading scorer. “It’s just a mindset for me. I played harder and played more intense, I would say.”
East agreed. Coach Ron Allen never altered his defense of playing behind Ellis. The difference between the first half, which Heights won 24-19, and the second half, where the Falcons groomed a double-digit lead and protected it, was the desire of Ellis to reach the basket.
The first six possessions in the third quarter accentuated the change in aggression. Heights scored on all of them with Ellis responsible for 10 points, as its lead ballooned to 40-27.
“Once he raises his level, we have no other choice than to raise our level with him,” said Terrence Moore, who scored 19 points.
Heights never found an answer for East’s Jalen Love, who scored 29 points on good performances from the field (9 of 16) and the line (11 of 14), but didn’t need one. While Heights had three steady producers – Ellis, Moore and Gavin Thurman scored 61 of Heights’ 70 points – East’s supporting cast was 10 of 35 with no one scoring more than six.
| East (6-3, 5-3) | 9 | 10 | 17 | 24 | — | 60 |
| Heights (8-0, 7-0) | 15 | 9 | 26 | 20 | — | 70 |
EAST: Love 9 11-14 29, Burris 1 2-2 5, Jackson 1 4-4 6, Brandon 2 0-0 4, Dennis 1 2-3 4, Hester 3 0-2 6, Sanders 1 0-0 3, Martin 1 0-0 2, Terrell 0 1-2 1, Nespor 0 0-0 0, Griffin 0 0-0 0, Haynes-Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 (2) 20-27 60.
HEIGHTS: Bell 1 2-2 4, Moore 5 7-8 19, Smith 0 0-0 0, Thurman 4 3-4 13, P. Ellis 8 13-15 29, Kolbeck 1 1-2 4, Wilbeck 0 1-2 1, Lattimore 0 0-1 0, Hervey 0 0-2 0, Reed 0 0-0 0, B. Ellis 0 0-0 0, Moreland 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 (5) 27-36 70.