It was a tale of two halves, one good and one not so good, as the Kosciusko boys basketball season came to an end with a 59-49 loss to Louisville in the opening round of the Region 4-4A tournament Monday at Choctaw Central.
The first half was the good. The Whippets never trailed and went to the locker room up 27-23. It looked like the sixth seed might upset the third seed.
But the game quickly turned when Louisville began the second half on a 16-4 run. Kosciusko's last lead was 31-30 on a three-point play by Jeremi Wilkes. Louisville went back ahead to stay on a basketball by Antonio Dixon and led by as many as 13 in the fourth quarter.
“We weren't as as physical as we were in the first half,” said coach Eleazarus Greenleaf. “They outebounded us. They got a lot of offensive rebounds. They got to the free throw line and they made the free throws.”
The Wildcats were 9 of 12 from the line in the second half.
Freshman Jaybre Pierce was a bright spot for Kosciusko with 15 points, 10 in the fourth quarter. Wilkes had 10 points and Kantavious Brown eight.
The game was a microcosm of the season for the young Kosciusko team, with good play at times that the Whippets had trouble sustaining for four quarters. There were only two seniors on the team, Brown and Kameron Vaughns.
The regular season ended with losses to West Lauderdale 57-51 and Leake Central 47-40.
The West Lauderdale game was close throughout, but Greenleadf said the Whippets were hurt by inexperience down the stretch by freshman guards. “A costly turnover her and there.”
Pierce and Andrew Mancell both scored 10 points. Pierce added four rebounds and three assists and Mancell had seven rebounds.
Poor free throw shooting — one of 11 — and poor three-point shooting — one of 12 — doomed Kosciusko against Leake Central. On the positive side, the Whippets scored 36 points in the paint.
“We made improvements,” Greenleaf said. “We just need to take care of the mental mistakes at crucial moments.”
Mancell had 13 points, five assists and four rebounds, Brown 10 points and five rebounds and Wilkes seven rebounds, six points and two steals.
Looking ahead, Greenleaf said there will be a summer program as he looks forward to the 2023-24 season with a more experienced team.
