Capital City struggled to get started.
The Hickman Kewpies had at least a 6-0 run to start three of four quarters Tuesday and build a 70-35 win against the Capital City Cavaliers at Capital City High School.
The lone quarter of the Central Missouri Activities Conference game the Kewpies didn’t start 6-0 or more, they jumped out to an 18-3 run.
“Every possession, whatever they did, they did it at a high intensity,” Capital City coach Darrin Young said of Hickman. “They were driving to the basket with purpose, they crashed with purpose, they went for rebounds and made extra passes with purpose, they pressured the ball. Everything they did was with purpose and they were consistent with that one-through-11.”
Hickman started the game with an 8-0 run on 3s from Rasaun Nichols and Isaiah Bonaparte and a putback layup from Brock Camp. Nichols and Camp both ended with 11 points.
Colby Gates ended the early run when he hit a left-corner 3 off one of Nehemiah Hamilton’s team-high four assists with 4:32 left.
Hickman connected on another two 3s before Hamilton assisted Shaun Adams for a layup, then the teams traded points with Hamilton hitting two free throws and John Hightower scoring the first two of his team-high 11 for the Cavaliers to send Hickman into the first break with an 18-9 lead.
The Kewpies started the second quarter on a 10-0 run after three 3s, two from James Townsend to help him build his game-high 12 points, to jump ahead 28-9 with 4:50 left before halftime.
Hightower broke the streak with a free throw, then Adams hit a left-wing 3 on a Hamilton assist with 3:44 left to cut the Kewpie lead to 30-13.
Capital City added four free throws and a 3 from Hightower off a Phillip Richardson assist to go into halftime down 35-20.
“They never had a drop off, they sub in one guy, he’s playing hard, they sub in another guy, he’s playing hard,” Young said. “It’s rare you have teams that deep and that unselfish and that’s what makes them the good team that they are. We’ve got to use that as a measuring stick of what we can be.”
An Adams 3 off a Hayden Carroll assist was Capital City’s only points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, while Hickman scored 18 to build a 53-23 lead with 2:48 left in the third.
Hightower broke the scoreless stretch when he drove around a Carroll screen for a layup.
Carroll scored on a putback and Aman Kesete hit a left-wing 3 off an inbound pass from Hamilton to send Capital City into the third break down 59-30.
“I told our guys to watch how their body language was and their disposition when things didn’t go their way,” Young said. “A lot of times you’ll clip out and watch when you make shots, but what did you do when you didn’t make the shot? Did you still sprint back on defense and get matched up? Because that mental lapse could cost us three points.”
With a running clock after a Josiah Griffith 3 put the Kewpies up 62-30, Hickman outscored Capital City 11-5 in the final quarter with three 3s, all coming from Griffith.
“I tip my hat to the physicality that Hickman played with from start to finish,” Young said. “At the beginning of the game, they scored with an offensive rebound, at the end of the game, they scored with an offensive rebound. That just goes to show you the amount of desire they have and the heart they played with the whole game.”
Townsend, Camp and Nichols all reached double-figure scoring for Hickman, while Camp added six rebounds and Nichols had four. Bonaparte had five points, six rebounds and six assists, while Kenny Jackson had four points and five rebounds.
Hightower was the lone Cavalier in double figures, while Carroll had four points and six rebounds. Adams scored eight points and brought down four rebounds, while Richardson grabbed four boards.
Capital City shot 10-of-38 (26.3 percent) overall, 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from beyond the arc and 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the free-throw line.
Hickman connected on 27-of-57 (47.4 percent) of its overall shots, 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) of its shots from 3 and 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) of its tries from the free-throw line.
Capital City (1-5, 0-1 CMAC) plays Southern Boone in the Norm Stewart Classic at 10 p.m. Thursday at Mizzou Arena.
Hickman (7-1, 2-0 CMAC), tied for the No. 9 spot in Class 6, plays Chaminade in the Norm Stewart Classic at noon Saturday at Mizzou Arena.
Capital City beat Hickman 66-58 in junior varsity action Tuesday. Imran Din-Gabisi led Capital City with 24 points, while Lucas Hrastich had 18 and Francis Samuel scored 10.