Kokomo boys basketball coach Brian McCauley rattled off a string of positives from Saturday night’s home game against Lafayette Jeff. He pointed to opening a double-digit lead in the third quarter, the good contributions of several individuals and a solid defensive effort against a high-scoring Broncho squad. Then he put those things into perspective:

“All those are consolation prizes,” McCauley said.

He acknowledged the good things, but was in no mood for a moral victory after the Wildkats lost 66-64 in a barnburner to a former North Central Conference rival.

Kokomo held an 11-point lead, 41-30, in the third quarter and had all the momentum after a couple big 3-pointers by Colton Summers. After a Jeff bucket, things seemingly got even better for the Kats at a timeout with 3:43 to play. An agitated Jeff coach Scot Bunnell got in the ear of star guard Jesse Berry during the timeout and sent the junior to the lockerroom without a single point. Berry, usually a starter, had earlier been benched for the first quarter.

The game then turned, but not in Kokomo’s favor. Jeff finished the quarter on an 11-3 run, then closed the gap in the fourth quarter to emerge with the victory.

“We had a lot of chances to finish that and we just didn’t have the poise that we needed, or the execution,” McCauley said. “That’s something we’ve got to get better at, and we can get better at.”

Kokomo (2-3) committed 13 turnovers in the second half and 20 for the game. Jeff had just five.

Behind disruptive pressure defense and great offensive rebounding, Jeff (6-2) kept pecking away at Kokomo’s lead and finally took its first advantage of the second half on a transition bucket by Roddy Richardson after a Kat turnover to make the score 52-51 Jeff with 4:28 to play. The lead changed hands four more times, and was tied twice, before Jeff got the edge in the final minute.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Bunnell said. “It was just battling and fighting at the end. I think the biggest thing was for 32 minutes, we fought and battled and when it became winning time, we made winning plays down the stretch.”

Both squads had chances at the end. With the game tied at 62, Richardson hit a difficult driving shot with 33 seconds left. Kokomo committed a turnover to give Jeff the ball back. Richardson barreled forward in his squad’s offensive half of the court and bowled over a Kokomo defender, losing the ball. When the Wildkat picked himself up, he was whistled for traveling, stunning the Wildkat home crowd.

Richardson was fouled and missed a free throw with 15 seconds left and Jeff nursing a two-point lead. Kokomo’s Parker Salinas pulled down the rebound but landed with a foot out of bounds. On the ensuing play, Jeff center Shane Wyant was fouled and hit two freebies for a four-point lead. Salinas hit a shot with 5 seconds left and Jeff missed two freebies with 2 seconds left. Kokomo rebounded, but couldn’t complete a pass to get a shot off at the buzzer.

Jeff finished with 16 offensive rebounds and scored 21 second-chance points, to go with 25 points scored off Wildkat turnovers.

“The story of the game was just our poor execution versus their pressure and our inability to get defensive rebounds,” McCauley said.

For the Jeff squad, Richardson wasn’t the whole show, but he was the emotional ringleader. After Kokomo took an 11-point lead, he scored the next six points for Jeff — sandwiched around Berry’s dismissal. He scored 15 points over the last 12:17 of the game. He had six rebounds (five offensive) while Wyant had eight rebounds (six offensive).

“We didn’t get a block out and Richardson would get several opportunities,” McCauley said. “You give any team that many opportunities and they’re either going to get to the free-throw line or they’re going to score baskets.”

Richardson finished with a game-high 25 points.

“He just took over for us,” Bunnell said. “He just leads us. In the four years I’ve been here, he’s the best I’ve had at leading us, at willing guys. He just kept saying ‘guys, we’re not losing. We’re going to find a way to win.’”

Wyant added 18 points and Brandon Williams — another usual starter benched in the first quarter — scored 10.

Alan Arnett led Kokomo with an impressive season-high 22 points and seven assists. Parker Salinas and Tyrone Brown formed a strong partnership in the post as they were perfect from the field. Brown scored five buckets and three freebies for 13 points. Salinas had four buckets for eight points and 10 rebounds while playing in place of injured Patrick Hopkins, who dressed but did not play. Summers added eight points.