Boys basketball: Highland beats Copley, off to best start in 20 years

COPLEY TWP. — The Highland boys basketball team continued its early-season roll and is off to its best start since 2004-05 after dropping Copley 66-52 Friday in a Suburban League American Conference game. The 2004-05 squad started 9-1 en route to winning the SL and finishing 18-4, while the 2024-25 squad moved to 7-1, 5-0. Hornets post Walker Kraus continued to flash, scoring a game-high 25 points to go with six boards and three assists. "We knew they were undersized," Kraus said. "They have a few bigs like (Lincoln) Brockmeyer and (Nick) Boffa, but Landon (Sooy) pushed it great in transition. We know if we get it to him every time, he is going to find people open, and I just happened to be open." Kraus even led the Hornets by dropping in 3-of-4 3-pointers as Highland made 10-of-14 overall. "They were wide-open threes — just catch-and-shoot," Kraus said. "Anyone in our locker room can make those and everyone found me. It was easy." The 6-foot-4 center scored seven in the first quarter, five in the second, five in the third and eight in the fourth.The first four first-quarter points were big, as the Hornets got off to a slow start before Kraus scored on back-to-back possessions for his team's only points in the first 5:20. The spark ignited Highland. Back-to-back triples from Zach Butcher (7 points, 4 assists) and Kraus turned a 12-10 deficit into a 16-12 lead and the Hornets never trailed again. A 3-pointer by Copley reserve Dane Wininger (9 points, 3-of-4 3-pointers) cut the Highland lead to 16-15 to start the second quarter, but the Hornets responded with a 7-0 run. Kraus scored five of those points on his second triple and a pair of free throws. Copley never got closer than three the remainder of the game, with back-to-back buckets from Kraus — on assists from Butcher — giving Highland its biggest lead at 56-40 with 5:10 left. While Kraus' offense was critical, the ballhandling by point guard Sooy (6 points, 3 assists) was just as important. The Indians (5-4, 2-3) implemented a full-court, man-to-man defense and Sooy was unbothered while cleanly moving the ball past half-court. "We just tried to stick to our plan," Sooy said. "We wanted to run our offense and not let them speed us up. We knew from scouting that they were probably going to do that. I have handled full-court presses a lot, and my teammates being open for passes and getting out in transition on rebounds helped." Once set up in the half-court, the Hornets were clean and crisp moving the ball, notching 17 assists against 10 turnovers. Noah Radigan followed Kraus with 14 points as well as three assists, while Jake Weber (5 points) and Tyler Robertson (5) provided some punch off the bench. The Indians were paced by forward Brockmeyer's 14 points and eight rebounds, but no other players reached double-digits. Scooby Stanford added eight points and three assists. "We scout every game beforehand," Sooy said. "We knew Brockmeyer was a good shooter and we knew a lot of them were right-handed drivers, so we tried to keep them left. It didn't always work, but the pregame scouting helped us." Radigan was often manned up on Brockmeyer and helped limit the senior to 6-of-15 shooting, including 0-of-4 from behind the arc. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Highland 66, Copley 52 HIGHLAND 16 11 21 18 – 66 COPLEY 12 12 12 14 – 52 Highland – Zach Butcher 3-0-7, Noah Radigan 7-0-14, Walker Kraus 10-2-25, Cam Koch 2-0-4, Landon Sooy 2-2-6, Josh Butcher 0-0-0, Jake Weber 2-0-5, Nick Dobkowski 0-0-0, Tyler Robertson 2-0-5. TOTALS: 28-4-66. Copley – Andrew McKnight 3-0-6, Carter Gowin 2-0-4, Lincoln Brockmeyer 6-2-14, Scooby Stanford 4-0-8, Gabe Mansel 1-0-3, Jay Whatley Grimes 1-0-2, Jaylen Owen's 2-2-6, Dane Wininger 3-0-9, Nick Boffa 0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-4-52. 3-point goals – Kraus 3, Z. Butcher, Robertson, Weber, Wininger 3, Mansel. Rebounds – Highland 26 (Kraus 6), Copley 19 (Brockmeyer 8). Assists – Highland 17 (Z. Butcher 4), Copley 7 (Stanford 3). Records – Highland (7-1, 5-0), Copley (5-4, 2-3). Junior varsity – Highland 49, Copley 44 (H: J Butcher 11, Joshua Goldie 11, Conner Dean 10, Dobkowski 10).