Highland, Burrell Have the Golden Touch, 55-42

When John Burrell has a special feeling, it is usually in his fingertips.

The senior forward from Highland High has soft hands and deadly aim, and he is the area scoring leader among large schools with a 30.5 average.

But the feeling Burrell had Friday was in his heart. He knew deep inside that his team could upset Antelope Valley, the No. 2 team in the area, and take sole possession of first place in Golden League play.

As usual, Burrell was on target, as the Bulldogs routed the Antelopes, 55-42, at Highland.

Burrell scored 31 points and led a pressure defense that forced 25 Antelope Valley turnovers.

Highland (15-9, 7-1 in league play) avenged an earlier 73-60 loss to Antelope Valley (17-6, 6-2).

“I had a feeling like we were going to win this game,” Burrell said. “We wanted it bad. We’ve been taking second place to AV for two years. I’m sick of second. We’re going to come out and win our last two games.”

Highland can win the league championship outright by beating Littlerock and Ridgecrest Burroughs (3-14, 1-6) in its final two games next week.

But the Bulldogs must travel to Ridgecrest, where the Burros play like world beaters. Just ask Antelope Valley, which escaped Ridgecrest Tuesday with an 82-79 victory in overtime.

Antelope Coach Tom Mahan thought the tough part was over.

“We had two good days of practice [since the Burroughs game],” he said. “We just didn’t shoot the ball well. We just didn’t show up to play tonight.”

Only Le’Tre Kelly showed up for the Antelopes. The 6-foot-6, 255-pound forward had 12 points and 14 rebounds.

But Kelly was under his scoring average (14.1) as were three of his teammates who average in double figures.

Tony Walker (14) made only two three-point shots, Ziaire Williams (12.2) had five and Marc Bucker (10.7) didn’t score.

Highland Coach Tim Knight promised new wrinkles before the game, and they came in the form of a pressure half-court defense that forced numerous turnovers and led to 31% shooting by the Antelopes.

That defense also led to several fastbreaks by Highland, which made 44% of its shots and got eight of its 20 baskets on layups.

“The first time at AV, we were playing no defense,” Burrell said. “This time we were anticipating the steals.”