Walker, Scots Pull Away to Sweep Jesuit
By Randy Jennings / Contributor
With its gymnasium packed to the rafters, the Jesuit Dallas fan base was howling with delight after rallying from an eight-point deficit to trail by only two at intermission.
But a 26-point second-half explosion from Highland Park senior Dylan Walker fueled the Scots’ 70-50 victory in Friday night’s fierce District 7-6A clash.
“My mindset was to let the shots come and not worry about it,” said Walker, who was limited to two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half but responded by hitting 7 of 9 in the second half including 3 of 4 from behind the three-point arc.
The Scots (24-6, 13-2) are headed to the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season as the No. 2 seed in the district and will meet South Grand Prairie in the Region I bi-district round on Feb. 21. They have won six straight games, all by margins of 20 or more points.
The Rangers (18-12, 9-6), a playoff qualifier in 15 of the last 16 seasons, are contending with Richardson Pearce for the final playoff spot in 7-6A. Jesuit hosts No. 3 seed Richardson on the final night of the regular season on Tuesday while Pearce travels to HP.
Walker came into the game as one of the top three-point shooters in the area, connecting on 46 percent of his attempts.
“Everybody knows Dylan is one of our better shooters,” said HP head coach David Piehler. “But this year he is more of a scorer. He gets to the free-throw line more than anybody.”
That was the case on Friday, with Walker converting 9 of 10 free throws, all in the fourth quarter.
Walker ended his night in style with a two-handed dunk with 24 seconds remaining. He was assessed a technical foul for hanging too long on the rim, and afterward Piehler could not keep a straight face when he threatened Walker with extra running for the technical.
Caleb Steger, a 6-3 sophomore, paced Jesuit with 14 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with six. Tai Kryger finished with 11 points.
“Based on the first game we played Highland Park, we changed some things in the first half and it gave them some problems,” said Jesuit head coach Chris Hill. “They made changes in the second half and when we fell behind, the game got away from us a little bit.”
In the opening two minutes of the second half, Walker made a pair of 3-pointers to establish scoreboard separation. Then he accounted for all 10 of Highland Park’s points four minutes into the fourth quarter.
“When we are hitting our threes, we can play with anybody in the state,” Piehler said.
Jordan Stribling, who is committed to the University of Texas as a baseball pitcher, had a game-high eight rebounds to go with 12 points. Coleson Messer scored 14.
With a season sweep of Jesuit, HP leads the series 6-1 in head-to-head matchups since 2012.
PHOTOS: Rob Graham
