The Kosciusko boys split a pair of games last week against Greenwood and Eupora to move to 4-2 on the season.
Antonio Harmon scored a team-high 15 points, JaQuan Hall finished with 10 points and Omarion Cobbins pitched in with nine points in the Whippets’ 67-59 loss to Greenwood on Tuesday.
Greenwood led 23-13 at the end of the first quarter and 39-24 at halftime. Greenwood took a 59-42 advantage into the final period.
“It’s always a hostile environment when you go there to play,” Kosciusko head coach Eleaazarus Greenleaf said. “The kids played hard, and they battled. They just came up a little bit short. We got off to a slow start. Saw some bright spots that we can build off of.”
Kosciusko closed out its week with a bounce-back victory as the Whippets defeated Eupora 72-24 on Friday.
Three Whippets players scored in double figures. Hall (6 of 9) finished with a team-high 14 points, Cobbins (5 of 8) tallied 12 points and Ellis Armon (5 of 5) registered 10 points. Eshavious Mays tallied six steals.
The Whippets shot 54.4 percent (31 of 57) from the field.
Kosciusko led 15-9 at the end of the first quarter and 43-14 at halftime.
“We got out in transition, and we played pretty good defense,” Greenleaf said. “The defense is starting to come along. We got out in transition and got a lot of layups. We’re starting to run our offense where we can get the ball into peoples’ hands who can make plays for us, and I think we did a good job of doing that.”
Kosciusko hosts J.Z. George on Dec. 3, and the Whippets travel to McAdams on Dec. 6.
GIRLS
The Kosciusko (5-2) girls also split their contests last week as they went 1-1 against Greenwood and Eupora.
Jakyra Young continued her early season dominance as she posted yet another double-digit scoring output with 11 points in Kosciusko's 52-37 loss to Greenwood on Tuesday. Amiyah Greer added seven points.
Greenwood led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter, 24-18 at halftime and 32-28 at the end of the third.
“I thought Greenwood was a good test for us,” Kosciusko Lady Whippets head coach Cory Guyton said. “We’re still young and trying to handle adversity, but that was a good test for us that will hopefully prepare us for district, being in that type of environment and players learning to deal with that type of adversity on the road.”
Young paced Kosciusko with 13 points and five blocks on Friday as the Lady Whippets defeated Eupora 59-29. Aaliyah Amey rounded out Kosciusko double-digit scorers with 12 points.
The Lady Whippets erupted for 30 points in the first quarter to lead 30-7 at the end of the period. They extended their lead to 38-13 at halftime and they led 56-25 at the end of the third quarter.
“We had a little momentum on our side coming into the game because of the loss to Greenwood,” Guyton said. “It helped get some younger players some experience, too, so it’s going to be very helpful for us down the road. I was pleased with our defensive effort. I thought we played really good defense. I think our offense clicked for the most part, but we still have a long way to go.”
