By Jim McCarter
FRANKFORT — Kokomo’s boys basketball team played four quarters of uninspired basketball, losing to Frankfort 47-44 Friday night at Everett Case Arena.
The Hot Dogs improved to 6-6 while the Wildkats dropped to 8-4 following their second straight loss.
“They wanted to win more than we did,” Kokomo coach Brian McCauley said. “We came out flat in the first quarter with six turnovers and only nine points and it carried over throughout the game. For the first time this season we were not focussed. We didn’t give our best effort and we absolutely deserved to lose tonight.”
McCauley could point almost anywhere on Kokomo’s stat sheet to underline his frustration. The Kats had as many turnovers as shots in the first half (13), scoring just nine points in each of the first two quarters. Kokomo hit just 14 of 36 field-goal attempts (38.9 percent) and finished a Shaq-like 13 of 28 from the free-throw line (46.4 percent) for a season-low 44 points. The Kats, who entered the game shooting 40.3 percent from 3-point range, hit just 3 of 14 attempts from beyond the arc for 21.4 percent.
Kokomo led 9-6 after one period and 15-12 midway through the second quarter before the Hot Dogs’ Korben Shirar scored seven unanswered points, spearheading a 9-3 Frankfort run that gave the Hot Dogs a 21-18 halftime lead.
“I thought we did a pretty good job offensively versus a good switching defense,” Frankfort coach Jason Good said. “We got seven or eight easy layups by knowing what to do when Kokomo’s defense switched on us.”
D.J. Balentine, Kokomo’s leading scorer, warmed up after intermission, scoring the Kats’ first seven points of the third quarter. Balentine’s 3-pointer from the left wing tied the game at 25-25 with 4:25 left in the third — but Balentine didn’t score the rest of the game. He finished with 12, nearly six points below his average.
As poorly as it played, Kokomo still had its chances down the stretch. The Kats hit just 8 of 13 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, but the Hot Dogs helped keep Kokomo in the game, hitting just 3 of 8 from the line.
Kokomo trailed 44-41 with 2:27 to go when Frankfort missed five consecutive free-throw attempts — but the Kats failed to take advantage, missing all five of their field-goal attempts during that stretch.
A strong driving layup by Cheyse Swain cut the lead to 45-43 with 13.5 seconds left. A pair of free throws by Troy Porter with 12.6 to go gave Frankfort just enough to squeak out the victory.
“Give Frankfort all the credit,” McCauley said. “They wanted it, fought hard and played with a sense of urgency we didn’t have. [This] morning, we’ve got to get ready for a very, very good Tipton team. We’ve got to learn from this loss and find a way to refocus and come out and play like we are capable of playing. That’s all you can ask.”
McCauley saw at least one bright spot in the loss.
“I was very proud of Braxton Shelton and the effort he gave when his name was called,” McCauley said. “He created some things for us defensively and played well on offense.”
