RUSSIAVILLE — The Kokomo-Western boys basketball series had become competitive in recent seasons, but the Wildkats returned to their dominant ways Wednesday night at Richard R. Rea Gymnasium.
The Kats looked more aggressive from the opening tip to the final buzzer in whipping the Panthers 84-55 in the squads’ annual season opener which drew a packed house.
“Over the summer, we just worked really hard,” senior forward Tyrone Brown said. “We got in the weight room, [practiced and played] and became more of a team.”
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Brown, one of four returning starters for the Red and Blue, scored a career-high tying 17 points to lead a balanced attack for the Red and Blue. Colton Summers scored 13 points, Patrick Hopkins and Brock Barbary each had 10 points, T.J. Weir netted nine and Alan Arnett and Parker Salinas each chipped in seven.
“Give [the Kats] credit. They are an excellent basketball team, well-coached, and they have the pieces to the puzzle,” Western coach Andy Weaver said. “You have Weir and Summers both make three [3-pointers], you have the inside presence with Brown and Hopkins and Arnett plays his role well for them. So, the starting lineup is solid, and then Barbary and Salinas were solid off the bench for them. I thought Barbary’s [3-pointer] at the end of the first quarter was a big dagger.”
Kokomo led all the way, but Western had weathered an early storm to trail by just three, 11-8, late in the first quarter. Brown and Hopkins followed with second-chance baskets and Barbary finished a 7-2 run with a triple that just beat the buzzer for an 18-10 advantage.
Kokomo broke the game open in the second quarter. Brown scored seven points to lead the way and Salinas, Barbary, D.J. Balentine and Cheyse Swain combined for 14 points off the bench as the Kats outscored the Panthers 24-11 in the quarter for a 42-21 lead.
“Our bench was great. They came in and gave us some good minutes,” Brown said.
Kokomo shot 17 of 30 from the field in the first half and held Western to 5 of 24 shooting from the field. Kokomo attacked the offensive boards and came away with 12 second-chance points.
“We really came out with a lot of energy,” Kokomo coach Brian McCauley said. “In the first game of the season, you can have some nerves, but I thought our guys were focused and ready to play from the start. We were aggressive.”
The Panthers closed within 52-37 midway through the third quarter, but the Kats slammed the door shut with a 12-2 run to close the quarter. Weir drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put an exclamation point on the run.
Kokomo finished just 10 of 21 from the free throw line, but otherwise Red and Blue fans had plenty of reasons to smile.
“We have some guys with a lot of experience, [including] some really solid seniors, so we need to be ahead of the curve as opposed to some other teams,” McCauley said. “We had very good balance from a scoring standpoint and really what I thought got us off to a great start was our dominance on the boards in the first half. We held them to a low shooting percentage too. You combine those two things and that’s why it was [42-21] at the half.”
Wes White scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to lead Western. Darrian Greene and Matt Reida added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“This is my 12th time against Western and I’ve been on all ends of the spectrum,” Weaver said. “Six years ago in this place, we had a pretty good team, and we lost by 21, but we went 19-5 and won our sectional. That doesn’t mean it’s going to happen [this season], but our kids need to learn from this and go forward. This is the best Kokomo team since 2002. We have a new lineup with young kids coming off the bench. … We just have to bounce back, try to remain positive, work hard in practice and go from here.”
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