At halftime of the Kokomo-Muncie Central boys basketball game Friday night in Memorial Gymnasium, the Wildkats looked to be hanging tough, trailing the two-time defending North Central Conference champions 25-22.
The good news for Kokomo was that Central’s Ball State-bound Jauwan Scaife had picked up three fouls and was held scoreless to that point.
Turned out, that was bad news for the Kats as well.
Scaife did not miss a shot in the second half, hitting 4 of 4 from the floor (two from 3-point range). He finished with 15 points and in the process, made certain the big yellow bus bound for Muncie was full of smiles after a 51-46 victory.
“That’s the type player [Scaife] is,” said Bearcat coach Matt Fine. “He has good mental toughness and he didn’t let that first half bother him. In the second half, he didn’t settle for jump shots. He got more aggressive — and with that body, he should.”
Even with Scaife inflicting the damage, Kokomo had its opportunities. But after shooting at a 51 percent clip from the field in season-opening wins over Western and Fishers, the Kats struggled putting the ball in the basket.
The Kats shot just 32 percent overall (15 of 46) and 22 percent (4 of 18 from 3-point range.
“Credit Muncie Central for a lot of that,” noted Wildkats coach Brian McCauley. “They take a lot of pride in their defense. They contested our shots and because of their defense, we pressed a little bit and settled for some shots that’s weren’t very good.”
Fine agreed that his defense was the difference.
“[Kokomo] had been so good scoring off transition in their first two games and our plan was to make them beat us in the half-court,” he said. “We did a good job in recognition — that is allowing some shots, but contesting the ones we needed to.”
Kokomo battled back in the third quarter and largely on the strength of two Colton Summers 3-pointers, jumped back into contention. It was tied at 27, 29 and 32 and Patrick Hopkins’ two free throws down the stretch gave the Kats a 37-34 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Seconds into the fourth, Alan Arnett drove, scored, was fouled and completed the 3-point play that gave Kokomo its largest lead of the night at 40-34.
That was as good as it would get.
Bearcat sophomore guard Jeremiah Davis, who would lead all scorers with 16 points, hit a 3-pointer and following a Kokomo turnover, Davis drove, popped up and hit a 10-footer that cut the lead to 40-39. After another Kat error, Scaife hit from 15 feet and after a missed Kokomo shot, it was Scaife hitting two free throws after being fouled on a drive.
“That was the game,” McCauley said. “We led 40-34 and rather than build on that, [Central] scores nine straight points.”
Evan at that, Kokomo wasn’t without chances. Trailing 46-43 with 2:55 remaining, the Kats had four possessions with the opportunity to draw closer. Twice they committed turnovers, twice they missed forced shots.
The Kats got back within a basket (48-46), but forced to foul, they sent Scaife to the line with :15 left and his two free throws ended it.
Bright spots for Kokomo were the play of the senior center Hopkins that resulted in 14 points, 11 boards and two blocks — and a mere six turnovers against a very good defense.
“Patrick came to play and was a force on both ends of the court,” McCauley said. “I was very pleased with his play — that’s something we need day in and day out.”
Arnett finished with 12 points, while Tyrone Brown and Colton Summers had eight apiece.
Kokomo’s JV squad improved to 3-0 with a most unlikely 38-37 victory. After trailing 34-22 in the final quarter, Kokomo battled back but still trailed by three points in the closing seconds. T.T. Catlett drove and scored with :05 remaining and on the inbounds pass, Armon Bridgeforth made a steal, missed inside, rebounded and dropped in a shot as the buzzer sounded.
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