Highlanders sure to get moving in time

By Ramon Scott
Updated: November 15, 2018

St. Augustine goes for a layup on Thursday night against Helix at Montgomery High.

2018 EAST COUNTY PREP BOYS BASKETBALL

EastCountySports.com staff report

SAN DIEGO – Helix High head coach JOHN SINGER is back. And so is a typically slow start to the Highlanders’ season.

But the veteran mentor is obviously not one to fear what the future entails.

The coach, already known for a few of comebacks of his own, always has his team on track once the pieces are put together.

The third-ranked St. Augustine Saints got the jump on the 2018-19 season with an 88-54 win over the Highlanders at the Montgomery Tip-Off Classic. This one really was never close.

The Saints opened the game with a 19-2 run over the first 4:22 and jumped out to a 25-7 lead after one quarter.

Junior SAMMY STUART hit a pair of free throws for the only Highlander points that made it 3-2 in the early moments.

Finally, junior frontcourt star MAURICE HOLMES stopped the awful drought with an and-1 which made it 19-5.

However, five minutes into the second quarter, the Saints led 42-11.

Junior Luke Haupt led St. Augustine with 24 points, while junior teammate Chibuzo Agbo added 22 points. The pair ranks as one of the county’s top duos.

Helix had its most impressive scoring run of the game over the last 1:34 of the first half, outscoring St. Augustine, 7-0.

Holmes took a defensive rebound and went all the way down the floor to draw another and-1, which he converted. He also had a block during the run then added a jam with under 15 seconds to play before the half.

Saints led 49-20 at intermission. The well-coached teams combined to go 15-for-15 from the charity stripe over the first 16 minutes and made three more in the second half before the first miss of the game.

Holmes had 11 points in the first half, then opened the second half with a pair of threes to close the lead to 49-26.

Helix junior JAYDEN JAMES had a three-pointer in the third quarter.

Holmes had 14 points in the third quarter alone before taking the rest of the evening off in the fourth.

The Highlanders usually at least a mention in the preseason media poll, start 2018-19 outside of the county top 25, which is rare for Singer’s club.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA YESHIVA 57, LIBERTY CHARTER 44 – Sophomore JONAH BELPREZ led the Lions with 15 points in a season-opening loss to the

Junior JAMES ZUNIGA and freshman ELIJAH LICKONA both added eight points for LCHS.

Liberty, which went 10-12 last season, will host Warner next Tuesday.