Marion —
It was a classic example of why it takes a full four quarters before you can call it a game, and it almost turned out to be a tough lesson for the Kokomo boys basketball team to swallow Friday night.
The Class 4A No. 9-ranked Wildkats nearly lost a double-digit halftime lead but held off Marion’s furious comeback attempt and hung on to escape Bill Green Arena with a 57-55 win in North Central Conference play.
Up by 17 at the half, Kokomo’s lead dwindled from 32-15 to 36-32 by the end of the third quarter as the Giants outscored the Kats 17-4 in the frame.
Marion (1-4, 0-1 NCC) shaved it to a two-point game, 54-52, with :18 to play in the game on a Kam Long 3-pointer. At the other end, Erik Bowen hit the first of a double-bonus free throw to make it 55-52.
Alec Turner’s trey to tie at the other end missed and Bowen pulled down the rebound and was fouled. Bowen knocked down both freebies to make it 57-52 with just :3.3 remaining. Turner’s deep 3 at the buzzer made it a two-point final.
“No matter how big the lead, you’ve got to have poise and stay with it to maintain a lead,” Kats senior LaBradford Sebree said. “This is a tough environment and we came in and got a good win. Bill Green [Arena] is always a tough place to play. Any time it’s a conference game, it’s always a big win. This game helps us get a little bit of a foot up going to 2-0.”
Sebree finished with a game-high 22 points as Kokomo remained perfect in conference play as well as remaining unblemished at 5-0 overall. Sebree netted 18 of his points in the first half, shooting 8 of 10 from the field over the first 16 minutes.
“I was just knocking down the open shot, taking what the defense gave me,” Sebree said. “I hadn’t had a good shooting night in a while. This was just one of those nights where when you’re on, you’re on.”
Tayler Persons finished with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Kats, and he also had five steals and four assists. Sebree and Persons accounted for all of Kokomo’s first-quarter points as the Kats jumped out to a 14-7 lead at the first stop.
“Just a great first half for LaBradford,” Kokomo coach Brian McCauley said. “He played very, very well. His shot selection was outstanding.”
Kokomo expanded its lead with an 8-0 run to open the second quarter, going up by double-digits at 22-9 midway through the period and outscoring the cold-shooting Giants 18-8 in the frame for the big lead at the half.
“We established a good tempo with our press, did a good job of rebounding, our shot selection was great,” McCauley said. “We were able to create offense from our defense, we were attacking inside-out … just a phenomenal first half.
“Obviously, we needed it. We communicated to the guys that Marion is a very good team. We knew it was going to be a 32-minute game, and that’s exactly what it was.”
Marion rattled off a 10-1 run over the first five minutes of the second half to shave it to a 33-25 contest. After a cool 5 of 20 first-half shooting performance, the Giants were 6 of 10 in the third period.
“There’s no place where you can draw up a 17-point play, and we knew it would be a process,” Marion coach Billy Shepherd said. “We talked at halftime about how you can feel sorry for yourself or go out and play. The good news is that we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves. We gave a great effort in the second half and if one more three falls we might still be out there playing.”
Kokomo strung together a 9-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter to get the lead back up to double-digits, 45-34, with 5:29 to play, but the Giants continued chipping away.
“Marion is a good team, that is pretty much what happened,” McCauley said. “Compound our mistakes with that, the fact that they’re an athletic team and they started making shots and we were turning the ball over.”
In the end, McCauley pointed to the charity stripe as a difference maker.
“Free throws were the difference in the game,” McCauley said. “They were playing a rugged style. It wasn’t a quick second half.”
The Kats shot 19 of 27 from the line for the game, going 15 of 22 in the second half, while the Giants were 9 of 15 for the game.
Hakim Burnett had nine points and four steals for the Kats.
Sports
Wildkats escape Bill Green Arena with win
No. 9 Kats build big lead, then weather Giants’ rally
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Kats regain tennis throne
At 10:51 a.m. Saturday morning, the bulk of Kokomo’s girls tennis team sprinted from the viewing hill to the east entrance of the tennis courts to mob No. 1 singles player Morgan Mohr as she came off the court following her 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Eastern’s Courtney Clark.
The No. 3 singles match was still raging, but the team match was already won. The Wildkats had reconquered the throne from two-time defending champion Eastern and were once again champions of the Kokomo Sectional. -
Eastern boys track claims first sectional title since 1998
The boys track and field coach at Eastern High School from 1987 until last season, Paul Nicholson’s parting message to his team was simple: “Don’t deny the gift.”
That motto left such a lasting impression on the Comets’ returning athletes that they had it screen printed on their 2013 season T-shirts.
With Nicholson in attendance to celebrate with them, new coach Austin Roark and the Comets outlasted host Kokomo to win their first sectional title since 1998 Thursday night, topping the Wildkats by 3.5 points, 124.5-121.
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Eastern, Kokomo favored in boys track sectional
Some of the names and faces have changed, but the plot remains much the same.
The Kokomo boys track and field sectional, much like last year, will likely be a two-horse race between the host and three-time defending champion Wildkats and Eastern, a team looking to break through and win its first sectional title since 1998. -
Cole to jump at Miami University
Eastern athlete Grant Cole has only been a long jumper for two seasons, but being turned on to the event late in his career has landed him a scholarship to Miami University.
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Comets roar to sectional title
As the old adage goes, it’s harder stay on top than it is to reach the top.
Eastern’s girls track and field team entered the 2012 postseason hoping to put in a strong enough effort to claim the program’s first sectional title.
Having done so, the Comets entered Tuesday’s postseason opener — the Madison-Grant Sectional — with a much larger bull’s-eye on their backs than in previous years.
Eastern proved up to the challenge, scoring a landslide victory to repeat as sectional champions with 125 points. -
Dexter leaving Eastern
Eastern girls basketball coach Jeremy Dexter has stepped down from the Comet program after accepting the AD job at Churubusco last week. Churubusco is in Whitley County about 15 minutes west of Fort Wayne.
Dexter led the Comets to a Class 2A state runner-up finish this past season. -
Hunter edges Shrout in Thunder Car thriller
Two drivers who are no strangers to Victory Lane returned there Sunday night at the Kokomo Speedway. Meanwhile, a third driver scored just the second feature win of his career at the local oval to highlight the racing action.
Chris Hunter, the winningest Thunder Car driver in the history of the local oval, ground out a gritty win over defending track champion Jason Shrout to highlight the chilly night. -
Girls track sectional is tonight
Eastern’s girls track and field team is ready to chase some more championship hardware.
Two weeks ago, the Comets won their fourth straight Howard County meet. Last week, they won their fourth straight Mid-Indiana Conference meet. Now, the postseason is here, with the Madison-Grant Sectional tonight.
“We’re looking forward to taking the next step,” Eastern coach Michael Goodspeed said. -
Athlete of the week
Oyler led the way as Class 2A No. 5-ranked Eastern beat Cass (4-3) and Hamilton Heights (5-4 in 12 innings) to move to 6-0 in the Mid-Indiana Conference with one league game remaining.
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Page family bonds over martial arts
A mother and father to six children, Jason and Denise Page began to run into your typical challenges associated with such a large family back in 2008, once the oldest children reached an age where they started to have desires to be involved in sports and other extracurricular activities.
As the commitments started to pile up, it didn’t seem like there were enough hours in the day to accomplish all the pitstops and still have time left over to fellowship as a family.
Karate to the rescue. - More Sports Headlines
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