Brandon Walters didn’t need a whole lot to eat before Howard’s rivalry basketball matchup against Brainerd on Friday. The other Hustlin’ Tigers fed him in the paint all game long.
Walters finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks as Howard jumped out to a double-digit lead early and held on for a 59-49 District 6-AA victory at Howard. Xavier Harris and Anthony Smith scored 10 points apiece for the Tigers (2-0, 1-0).
The 6-foot-8 center, who finished 11-for-14 at the free-throw line, said he didn’t expect the early looks inside.
“When we first came out, they started to double-team, and we had to find a strategy to get the ball inside,” he said. “This was a good win for us, but we have to work even harder because we could have done better tonight.”
The Tigers scored the game’s first 11 points, as Walters had four points, three rebounds and three blocks in the first five minutes. Brainerd (4-3, 1-1) got on the board with 3:03 to go on a pair of free throws by Jabari Evans, but Howard led 17-5 after a quarter.