Robinson comes through, leads Episcopal to victory

■ Kellen Robinson tormented Harding Academy again Tuesday night.

The sophomore scored 33 points in three quarters to power Episcopal Collegiate (20-5, 11-1 3A-6) to a 69-32 rout at Wildcat Gymnasium.

The victory was the 11th in a row for Episcopal Collegiate, which beat Harding Academy 76-33 three weeks ago behind a 30-point outing from Robinson. The 6-2 guard was even better in the rematch.

Robinson made seven of his first eight shots and scored 17 points in the first quarter to help the Wildcats build a 21-4 lead. Harding Academy (7-11, 6-8) did close that gap by the midway point of the second quarter and got within 26-15 until a driving lay-up by Robinson started a 14-6 rally that gave Episcopal Collegiate a 40-21 lead at halftime.

The Wildcats scored 15 of the first 17 points of the second half, with Robinson notching eight of those, to establish an even wider margin – one that would eventually lead to a running clock in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we played well, and I was really proud of them,” Episcopal Collegiate Coach Brandon Friedel said. “We’ve got a bunch of games this week with four of them, and that’s tough. But we wanted to make sure we stay focused because each game is the biggest one for us. I thought we had a good turnaround after Monday’s game, too.

“We played really good defensively, and we gave really good effort from start to finish.”

Grant Gary has 11 points, Elijah Mason ended with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, and Keeton Dassinger contributed 11 rebounds for Episcopal Collegiate. Levi Mercer scored seven points for Harding Academy.