LITTLE ROCK — Strong guard Stetson Billings had a great Thursday night.
Billings, the leading scorer for the Bulldogs, scored 57 points in a 89-65 win over Bearden. Billings and Bulldogs coach Anthony Avery confirmed the news via phone.
"I kind of felt like I was up there (in scoring)," Billings said. "I didn't exactly know until my teammates told me what I had. I was just playing the game."
Billings, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Arkansas-Little Rock next season, finished with a triple-double, recroding 57 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Avery said Billings is averaging around 30 points per game.
“When you get to looking, the kid is on fire and we kept feeding him,” Avery said.
While he didn’t have Billings’ official stat line off-hand, Avery said he “didn’t have many misses”. With 32 minutes in a regulation high school game, Billings was averaging 1.78 points per minute in the contest.
It was Billings' first 50-point game and first triple-double playing for Strong.
"It boosts your confidence, real high," Billings said. "For a game like that...you feel like you can make whatever."
And the points didn't come from one part of his game. Billings said used his entire repertoire to get his 57.
"I was really coming every way," Billings said. "I was shooting threes, driving and pulling up, getting and-ones, hitting free throws. My teammates were passing me the ball and getting me open."
Avery said the Bears were running a Box-And-1 defense at Strong most of the game, but obviously it didn’t help much.
Strong is currently 9-6 overall and 8-0 in the 8-2A Conference, despite playing four games per week on average to begin the season.
That is because of the football team’s run to the Class 2A state title in December, pushing back the schedule with a large number of basketball players on the team.
Strong's basketball roster also includes the state’s new all-time leading rusher, Kenneth Dixon, who is also the team’s second-leading scorer.