HAMILTON — Christian Kingwood provided the zest to get Hightstown High’s basketball team going in the first quarter. When Steinert threatened after halftime, Jackson White provided the sharp shooting to keep the Rams going. Red-hot Hightstown won its fourth straight and sixth of seven in taking an 80-57 victory at Steinert Tuesday night. Starter Jaden Lawrence did not play due to illness and Julian Davis, the team’s leading scorer at 13 per game, played just a few minutes due to an ankle injury. Steinert sophomore Michael Shanklin was outstanding, enjoying a career-day with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting with eight 3-pointers. And yet, the Rams won easily. “Julian tried to give it a go but didn’t want to risk it,” said Clinton Counts, who took over the Rams after six seasons as Don DeLeo’s assistant. “It’s next man up and other guys took it upon themselves to step up in that second half. The Spartans started strong with leads of 5-2 and 7-4 before Kingwood got going. He scored 10 of his 12 in the initial period to turn the Rams deficit into an 18-14 lead. Two of his buckets were on putbacks as he finished with seven rebounds. “That’s usually what I am for the  team,” the 6-0 junior said. “I’m always going for rebounds, giving energy to the team, giving us a little spark.” White agreed with that. “He gives us a ton of energy,” the sharp-shooting guard said. “He’s our glue guy. We need him to win.” White proved pretty necessary himself. With the Rams up 10 at halftime, Frank Mazzella (12 points) and Shanklin helped the Spartans get within five twice. White answered with a 3-pointer the first time. The second time Caden Mamone got a bucket and White followed with another three as he buried five of six from behind the arc in the third quarter to finish with 16. The Rams hit nine of their 11 threes after the break. “I feel like I perform a lot better when I need to hit a shot,” White said. “I needed to get the offense going and rally the troops. I needed to get it going and I did.” Once he got going, he never stopped. “It was one of those games where I didn’t start off the best,” said White, who shot 0-for-3 in the first half. “Luckily I kept my head in it, something I’ve been working on a lot. Mental’s been a big issue for me my first thee years but this year I made it a goal to knock it down when I’m missing so I came out in the third quarter with a new mindset. I saw the first one go in and I knew at some point I’d let it go and they’d all go in.” After Steinert got within 33-28, the Rams closed the quarter on a 28-7 run to put it away. Mamone scored nine of his 14 in the period and also did a good job defensively on Steinert’s leading scorer Tommy Ditta. Mamone and White were 8-for-9 on threes in the 31-point quarter. “I think (the threes) went on sale,” Counts said with a laugh. “The light switch went on. The guys are starting to realize how deep we are and anyone can start picking up steam. “Jackson’s been tremendous all season, Dhruva (Sribuddharaju) is finding his rhythm as a junior. Caden’s been tremendous at the point. James Boswell (eight points) is tall and lanky so he’s a match-up problem for a lot of teams.” Counts is mixing newcomers up from the JV with several veterans and things are coming together. The Rams are 4-0 in 2026 with all four victories coming on the road. “So far so good,” the coach said. “We had a goal to be at least at .500 when we got off holiday break. They stayed on business and really performed better and better as the season got going. A couple early hiccups at the beginning but they’re starting to really gel and mesh and understand continuity is gonna be key.” Hightstown entered the game on a high after beating Old Bridge Monday night by overcoming a 13-point deficit with 1:32 remaining. “That definitely carried over into today,” said Kingwood, who had 18 in that one. “We put pressure on them and they crumbled and we capitalized on their mistakes,” White said. “I think that win  brought us together a lot more and gave us more chemistry. “I think we’re gonna keep rolling, keep that fire going. Coming back like that is something we haven’t seen at Hightstown for a while. It was a good accomplishment to come back and get a win.” The Rams were pretty much a question mark prior to the season, but their coach is liking the answers he’s getting. “They’re putting the pieces together,” Counts said. “And there’s no pressure on him.” Not yet. But keep winning like this and expectations will rise. The Rams would have it no other way. HIGHTSTOWN (80) Davis 0-0-0, Boswell 3-2-8, Kingwood 6-0-12, White 5-1-16, Mamone 5-1-14, Sribuddharaju 2-0-6, Jones 1-3-5, Hegarty 2-0-5, Sarr 2-1-5, Grewal 2-1-5, Carter 2-0-4. Totals:30-9-80. STEINERT (57) Ditta 3-1-7, Guagliardo 1-0-2, Shanklin 10-0-28, Whitman 0-0-0, Mazzella 5-0-12, Cromwell 2-0-4, Johnson 0-0-0, Karbah 1-0-2, Corby 0-0-0, Stillitano 0-2-2. Totals: 22-3-57. Hightstown (6-5) 18 12 31 19 — 80 Steinert (0-7) 14 6 15 22 — 57 3-point goals: White 5, Mamone 3, Sribuddharaju 2, Hegarty, Shanklin 8, Mazzella 2 ...read more read less