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PERU — In the midst of an up-and-down season, the Kokomo boys basketball team looked on the rise when it swept Frankfort and Noblesville last weekend.
Peru sent the Red and Blue back down with a thud Friday night.
The Class 3A No. 7-ranked Bengal Tigers bolted to a 19-point lead in the first half and went on to whip the Wildkats 58-37 at Tig-Arena.
“It was a nice win,” said Peru guard Terry Smith, who scored 12 of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter to help the Bengal Tigers win going away. “This was like the second time in nine years or something that we beat them. Our defense just played outstanding, held them to 30-some points, and our offense is clicking. We played our tempo and just did everything right.”
Winners of five straight, the Tigers improved to 8-1 — their best breakout since their 1999-2000 squad opened 9-0.
The Kats, meanwhile, dropped to 4-5 and let any momentum gained last weekend slip away.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Kokomo coach Brian McCauley said. “Any loss is disappointing, but this was a loss where we really were outplayed. … When you’re playing on the road, you have to be tough mentally and physically.
“The players have to improve, the coaching staff has to get better at what we’re doing and we have to get ourselves together. There is no time to point fingers or pout, we just have to get better and get things done.”
The Bengal Tigers led wire to wire. They scored the first six points of the game and went on to lead 13-5 at the end of the opening quarter. They roared to a 27-8 lead with 2:22 remaining in the half at which point the Kats had made just 2 of 13 shots, had turned the ball over seven times and allowed the Tigers to score 13 points off second-chance opportunities.
“We had a terrible start both defensively and offensively,” McCauley said. “Credit Peru for their toughness both defensively and offensively. They were really forcing us out of our comfort zone. We didn’t come out with the intensity that we needed and Peru came out attacking.”
The Kats took advantage of transition opportunities to close the first half on an 8-0 run, drawing within 27-16. They continued to chip away in the third quarter and closed within six, 34-28, but Smith drilled a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter.
Up 37-30, the Tigers ripped off a 17-2 run to blow the game open. Smith keyed the run by making 7 of 8 free throws, scoring on a nice driving layup and dishing an assist on another nice drive.
“They play in-your-face defense, but everyone opens up when you get around the first guy and that’s just what happened. If you don’t get around them, they’re holding, and they called it,” Smith said.
Terry Smith led a balanced Tiger attack. Taylor Smith followed with 14 points, Justin Engel scored 12 and Mason Zimmer and Wes Zimmerman each had seven.
The Tigers shot 19 of 39 from the field and committed just nine turnovers while the Kats made just 12 of 38 shots and turned the ball over 16 times.
“I was proud of our execution offensively and defensively,” Peru coach Eric Thompson said.
Tyrone Brown offered a bright spot for the Kats with 11 points and eight rebounds. Alan Arnett and Patrick Hopkins, the team’s leading scorers coming in, combined for just 13 points on 3 of 15 shooting.
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