Lake Highlands went on the road and took care of business against Berkner on Saturday, winning 77-41.
Lake Highlands’ Miller Mask and Berkner’s Jason Jackson jump for the opening tip in a 77-41 Wildcats win on January 31, 2026. Photo by James Baxley-Cross.
After this week’s matchup against Jesuit was delayed until Thursday evening due to winter storms, the Wildcats (16-9, 8-1 District 7-6A) and the Rams (7-20, 4-5) opted to take Friday off and play on Saturday instead. The schedule change didn’t seem to rattle Lake Highlands, though.
Whereas the Wildcats cruised to a 64-43 win versus the Rangers on Thursday, Berkner had to grind out a 71-70 overtime victory against Irving MacArthur.
“You just handle it the best you can, be flexible and try to get right back to work,” Lake Highlands coach Joe Duffield said. “I thought these guys did a good job in the two games this week.”
Senior guard Syncere Anderson left his fingerprints all over the game for the Wildcats. On the very first play of the game, Anderson rebounded an Eli Johnson miss inside and laid it in for a 2-0 lead.
The next possession, Anderson stole it from the Rams for another layup, forcing Berkner to call a timeout just 41 seconds into the contest.
On the first play out of the timeout, Anderson drew a charge to force a Berkner turnover. Lake Highlands capitalized, with Miller Mask finishing a layup out of the pick-and-roll with Jamion Broom.
Anderson scored another five points in the quarter and the Wildcats led, 23-9, after an and-one layup from Kevin Turner to close the opening period.
“(Anderson) played like a senior leader, for sure,” Duffield said. “Defensively, he set the tone early, getting deflections, getting steals (and) getting easy baskets in transition.
“He took multiple charges (and) definitely brought a toughness and edge to the game that helped our team.”
Lake Highlands came out slow in the second, but picked up the intensity as the period drew on. With under ninety seconds remaining in the first half, Anderson stole the ball again and dished it to Uyiosa Osawemwenze, who threw down a two-handed dunk in transition.
After that, Broom stole the ball from the Rams and finished a tough layup through contact and the Wildcats led 36-18 at halftime.
Anderson opened the third with another bucket, driving and finishing with his right hand on the left side of the basket. A few minutes later, Berkner guard Ali Amanullah ran out in transition for a layup, but was blocked by Jay’Sean Wilkerson.
Broom saved the ball before it careened out of bounds and on the other end, Mask, Lake Highlands’ big man, nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing. With the score up to 41-23 with 4:52 left in the third, it was all Wildcats.
Lake Highlands connected on another highlight play with 2:09 in the quarter, as Henry Moore inbounded the length of the court, the ball soaring through the air for what felt like eons, into the hands of Broom. Broom proceeded to calmly lay it in.
“We drew that up,” Duffield said. “They were kind of being aggressive with the press and we wanted to see if we could hit something over the top. Henry threw a really good pass and Jamion had a really great catch and finish. That was fun.”
Quincy Perkins also supplemented the Wildcats in the period, nailing a pair of triples. Perkins finished with nine points.
The Rams had their play of the game in the fourth, when Jason Jackson stepped up to block a Lake Highlands 3-pointer, secured it and hammered home a thunderous one-handed slam in transition.
Unfortunately for Berkner, the score was still 64-39 in favor of the Wildcats and Lake Highlands went on a 13-2 run to close the contest.
Anderson led all scorers with 18 points, drawing charges and forcing steals throughout.
Osawemwenze finished with 14, using his size to create advantageous positions inside for easy rebounds and layups.
“(Osawemwenze’s) getting better with every game,” Duffield said. “He’s a great physical presence, definitely a mismatch for a lot of teams in district.
“I thought he did a great job, both finishing and rebounding, today.”
The Rams were led by Jackson, who scored 15 points. Amandullah contributed 11, including three 3-pointers, while setting the table for his teammates.
Berkner next plays Irving (3-21, 0-8) at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the road.
The Wildcats will return against Irving Nimitz (10-12, 1-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home.
“We’re a little bit out of rhythm or out of sync with the weather,” Duffield said. “I think just getting back into our normal routine next week will be nice. Nimitz has a couple really good guards and they run some good actions, so I really want our guys to do a good job with that.”
