What We Learned: St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Lake Highland Prep

Lake Highland can shoot...and shoot...and shoot.

If the shooting performance is any indication of how the new year is going to go, the Lake Highland Prep Highlanders are going to be in good shape. Lake Highland blitzed the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders in their visit to Fort Lauderdale, defeating them 76-37. The win gives the Highlanders a 10-2 record while the loss drops the Raiders to 3-10. The Highlanders hit 13 3-pointers, some of which seemed were shot from the parking lot. Lake Highland opened up this game early with a 22-8 second quarter to take a 40-17 lead at half time. In the second half, the final was all but inevitable and the game was forced to a running clock by the fourth quarter. With a strong performance against University School, the Highlanders might sneak into the state's Top 25 rankings. Currently, the Highlanders are ranked 34th in MaxPreps rankings. U-School is ranked 12th.

Scorers breakdown: Lake Highland Prep

Brice Sensabaugh 2022/F - 17 points (three 3-pointers)

Victor Brown Jr. 2020/F,G - 12 points (two 3-pointers)

Sean Stewart 2023/W - 11 points

Gabe Ferguson 2021/C - 10 points

Rock Swann 2020/G - 9 points (three 3-pointers)

Scorers Breakdown: St. Thomas Aquinas

Andrew Akuchie 2022/F - 11 points (two 3-pointers)

Tristan Goldstein 2021/F - 8 points

Highlanders roll in transition...

While Lake Highland did a lot of its damage from long range, the Highlanders also scored a handful of points off turnovers in transition. The Highlanders forced nearly 20 turnovers and were extremely disruptive in the Raiders passing lanes. Consequently, this led to easy dunks on the other end from Sensabaugh and his teammates. Lake Highland was also very efficient with their on-ball defense, especially from the play of 2022/PG Jared Berry. Berry forced the Raiders into a five-second violation and looked smooth baseline to baseline. Aquinas certainly had a tough time with Berry and company all night.

As for the Raiders, turnovers were a clear issue. STAQ definitely missed the point guard play of 2021/G Zach Zibelli, who did not dress for the game. Getting a ball handler like Zibelli back will help the Raiders in their offensive sets. When facing a team like the Highlanders, unforced errors combined with hot shooting will doom any opponent  fast. If the Raiders can clean that up with some pieces back in the lineup, I think they can get on track.

Andrew Akuchie continues to show good progression as just a sophomore. I thought the six-foot-seven forward was aggressive shooting the ball, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers. Akuchie runs the floor well for a big and his ceiling should continue to get higher with more playing time. Junior Tristan Goldstein is an aggressive player and is a perfect asset for this Raiders team in a bit of a flux. When the Raiders face a team like Dillard High School coming up on January 7th, Goldstein would be a player I would want to come to battle with. 

For any South Florida hoops news or information...please contact Michael Costeines on twitter @Mungertown_Mike23 or Instagram @Steins_23