Shamarvious Hodges strung together a postseason-worthy performance as the Gentry senior exploded for 28 points last Tuesday to lead Gentry over Kosciusko 100-62 which sent Gentry to the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A postseason.
Three other Gentry players joined Hodges in double figures. Robert Bell scored 17, Darrius Clark added 12 and David Windfield ended with 11.
“Gentry was a well-coached team,” Kosciusko coach Eleazarus Greenleaf said. “They shot the ball exceptionally well. I don’t think they missed 12 shots the whole game – everybody who shot it. They made contested shots. When a team makes shots with hands in their face, there’s nothing you can do about it. The guys played hard, fought hard and stuck to the game plan. It’s just one of those things – you didn’t expect them to hit all those 3-pointers, and that was the big difference in the ball game.”
Kosciusko’s Terry Skinner had 13 points and seven assists, JaQuan Hall had 12 points and five rebounds and O’Corrya Forrest had 10 points.
The loss ended the Kosciusko season at 21-7.
The Whippets experienced an impressive turnaround this season, just one year removed from going winless in Region 4-4A play. Kosciusko went 7-1 in region games and entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed.
“I think we had a really good season,” Greenleaf said. “Ultimately, our goal was to win a state championship, but in looking back at where we came from the last two years, where we didn’t make the playoffs, and last year when we didn’t win a game in district play, to turn around and go 7-1 in district and be the No. 1 seed in the district tournament, my hat goes off to the players. They worked really hard this season and last summer. They came and practiced hard, and they played for each other instead of for themselves. I think that was the biggest turn around this year – they fought for each other on the court, and were a family off the court.”
Kosciusko will graduate three seniors, but Greenleaf said those roles will be filled by a number of younger players who received meaningful, significant playing time this year.
“We played a lot of sophomores and freshmen this past season,” Greenleaf said. “This is our first year making the playoffs in two years, so hopefully with that, we have some playoff experience and regular-season experience, so hopefully that will carry over into next season.”
