FW Arlington Heights' senior bigs ignite win over Aledo

By Travis Detherage

Special to the Star-Telegram

Fort Worth Arlington Heights seniors A'Shawn Robinson, Damontre McFarland and Justin Hemphill combined for 41 points to help the Yellow Jackets defeat Aledo 66-52 in a District 7-4A game on senior night Friday at Billingsley Field House.

"I feel like we have three of the best bigs in the district, and they played well tonight," Arlington Heights coach Jon Wagner said. "They dominated a lot inside and did a good job on the boards. They just worked really hard on finishing around the basket."

The Yellow Jackets (18-10, 9-4 District 7-4A) led the whole game. They started the first quarter on a 14-0 run and didn't let Aledo score its first field goal until there was 1:02 left in the first quarter. But the Bearcats closed the quarter on an 8-0 run.

Aledo (17-15, 6-7) would get as close as four in the second quarter, but the Yellow Jackets went into halftime with a 28-20 lead.

After that, the Yellow Jackets' trio of bigs took over as Robinson, McFarland and Hemphill scored 14 of Arlington Heights' 20 points in the third quarter.

"Those three guys, our seniors, stepped up, and they wanted to win on senior night," Wagner said. "And we're preparing for the playoffs right now, too, so we're making that final push."

Derrick Lightner made back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Yellow Jackets up 48-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

Aledo's Taylor Johnson scored 14 points in the fourth, but the Bearcats never got within single digits the rest of the way, sending the Yellow Jackets' seniors out on a high note.

"These seniors play hard every game," Wagner said. "They've done everything we've asked them to do and they compete at a high level every game, so it's been fun working with these guys."

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