The Kosciusko boys and girls basketball teams split their season-opener series at Canton on Saturday. The Lady Whippets earned a 58-50 win over the Lady Tigers, while the Kosciusko boys dropped a 62-47 contest.
“Overall, I thought we did pretty well,” Lady Whippets coach Cory Guyton said. “We had a really slow first half. We couldn’t get our offense going; defense was kind of sluggish, I kind of attributed it to first-game nerves and jitters.”
The Lady Whippets overcame a 10-point deficit at halftime to secure their first win of the year.
Jakyra Young, a McAdams transfer, led Kosciusko with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and one steal. Aaliyah Amey contributed 14 points, three rebounds, one assist, one block and four steals. Amey was named Kosciusko’s player of the game for her efforts.
“She hit some big shots at crucial times,” Guyton said.
The Lady Whippets were set to play their home opener on Tuesday, and they will host the Premier Rehab Classic on Saturday.
Jaquan Hall’s 19-point effort was not enough to power the Kosciusko boys to victory. Calvin Banks added 11 points, and Ellis Armon finished with eight. Whippets coach Eleazarus Greenleaf said the slow start contributed to the loss, but his players progressed with the game.
“The first half, I think we had a lot of those first-game jitters we had unnecessary turnovers,” Greenleaf said. “The second half, we came out and played a lot better and kind of closed the gap on the scoreboard. Just kind of ran out of gas at the end with having to play so hard to get back into the game.”
