Calvin Banks and Antonio Harmon combined for 25 points last Tuesday as Kosciusko (8-3) returned from the Thanksgiving break with a 63-36 win against J.Z. George. Jaquan Hall added 15 rebounds, and Omarion Cobbins chipped in with four steals.
The Whippets shot 49.1 percent (27 of 55) from the field.
“Coming out of the break, I think we played pretty well,” Kosciusko coach Eleazarus Greenleaf said. “We still have some things we need to clean up defensively. We played better than we’ve been playing, so we have to continue to play better and build off the positive things we’ve done.”
Kosciusko led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter and 30-19 at halftime. The Whippets upped their lead to 55-26 at the end of the third period. Kosciusko led by as many as 29 points.
Banks scored a team-high 16 points last Thursday to lift the Whippets to a 67-43 win against McAdams. Eshavious Mays finished with 13 points, three assists and three steals. Hall again led the Whippets with 10 rebounds.
Kosciusko connected on 10 of 28 (37.5 percent) 3-point attempts. The Whippets overwhelmed McAdams defensively, as McAdams managed just 17 points through halftime.
“We renewed our rivalry with McAdams, and even though we won by 20, it was a tough game,” Greenleaf said. “When you have rivalries, records and all those things go out of the window. The kids from both teams showed up and played, and put on a pretty good show for the crowd.”
Coffeeville snapped Kosciusko’s win streak on Saturday with a 65-63 victory.
JaQuan Hall tied the score at 61 with a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, but the comeback bid was short-lived as Coffeeville rallied for the two-point win.
Harmon finished with 18 points, while Banks ended with 15. Hall recorded 11 points and eight rebounds.
Kosciusko led 19-16 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 36-31 at halftime. Kosciusko outscored Coffeeville 13-6 in the third quarter.
“We played a really good Coffeeville team,” Greenleaf said. “We missed a shot at the buzzer that could have won it. But we’re continuing to build on things. We have a few things we can fix, but overall, I’m very proud of the week we had and how my guys are playing.”
The Whippets and Lady Whippets travel to Jim Hill on Tuesday and Noxapater on Thursday.
GIRLS
Jakyra Young erupted for 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals last Tuesday to pace all scorers as Kosciusko (8-2) defeated J.Z. George 68-53 in the Lady Whippets' return to the hardwood. Ariel Fleming contributed 16 points.
The Lady Whippets led 21-10 at the end of the first period and 39-10 at intermission. Kosciusko upped its advantage to 54-39 through three quarters played.
“I think we played a little sluggish on defense, but overall, being that we came off the break, sometimes you have those kinds of lapses,” Lady Whippets coach Cory Guyton said. “Overall, I thought they responded well once they got into the flow of the game… Jakyra Young started to come into her (own) on offense. She made four or five 3-point shots. I thought a lot of other people contributed, as well. Ariel Fleming had 16 points. I thought, as a whole, we had a good game.”
Young added 20 more points last Thursday as the Lady Whippets defeated McAdams 43-26. The Lady Bulldogs scored 11 points in the first quarter but were held to three, five and seven points in the last three quarters, respectively.
“I thought that was one of our better defensive games that we played this year,” Guyton said. “That’s the school where I came from — that’s where I went to school. So it was kind of like a rival. I thought we came out with a lot of energy. We really got to it on the defensive end. We missed a lot of free throws. We were 5 of 27, so there’s always going to be something you can work on. But to get the win in the fashion we did, especially on the defensive end, I thought we did well.”
