January 23, 2025 at 2:05 p.m.
Cardinals score quickly and go on to down Braves
The young Belmont squad may be the team of the future in the Six Rivers West but Highland is the team of here and now.
The Cardinals kept the young, talented Braves at bay all night and won the SRW match-up 73-57 to up their season record to 12-1 and remain undefeated in conference play.
The Cardinals wasted no time getting untracked and raced to a 40-26 halftime lead. The first half run saw Michael Esser pump in 14 points and Wes Kraisinger 13. Belmont had no answer to their length and ability to find the rim.
Esser finished with 24 points and Kraisinger closed out the night with 19. Jack Tarrell also reached double digits with 13.
Freshman Thomas Freeman was a force for the host Braves and led all scorers with 27. The only time he did not score was when Gavin Shemak got into the game and guarded him.
Tanner Simmons, another Brave with length, added 20 points.
The Cardinals were able to hold down another talented freshman, Wyatt Temperly who scored on one three pointer. Temperly has been in the 20s in recent games.
“Belmont is a good team and played hard,” Highland coach Ryan Hill said. “But we were able take a 14 point lead at halftime and had it to 20 the second half.”
He said the scoring the Cardinals got from Esser, Kraisinger and Tarrell was the difference and he added Shemak and Kaden Washa were strong off the bench.
The Cardinals host Juda Friday.
SCORE BY HALVES
Highland 40 33 73
Belmont 26 31 57
BOX SCORE
HIGHLAND 73: (fg-ft-tp) Esser 11-2-24, Smith 2-0-6, Hermanson 0-0-0, Washa 3-0-7, Aloisi 0-0-0, Zadrazil 0-0-0, Tarrell 5-1-13, Dreischmeier 0-0-0, Newberry 0-0-0, Kraisinger 9-1-19, Thielorn 0-0-0, Shemak 2-0-4. Totals 32-3/7-73. Fouls-16
BELMONT 57: Simmons 7-2-20, Austin 2-0-4, Kettler 0-0-0, Temperly 1-0-3, Palzkill 1-1-3, Kletecka 0-0-0, Ruiz 0-0-0, Knebel 0-0-0, Riechers 0-0-0, Freeman 10-7-27. Totals 21-10/16-57. Fouls-11
3 point goals:
H-Tarrell 2, Smith 2, Kraisinger 1, Washa 1
B-Simmons 4, Temperly 1