The Kenston Bombers boys basketball team has taken a lot of lumps this season, as their inexperience has showed often.
Game photos click here.
The Kenston Bombers boys basketball team has taken a lot of lumps this season, as their inexperience has showed often.
But gradually things are becoming more routine for the boys, and that showed in a big way Feb. 2 as they won just their second game of the season with a thrilling come-from-behind 56-50 victory against the visiting Riverside Beavers in Western Reserve Conference action.
After Kenston opened with a quick layup by Tommy Seifried on a feed from Spencer Brownfield to open the scoring, Jackson Allotta followed with a 3-pointer for a 5-0 Bomber lead.
It didn’t last, as the Beavers came back with a 12-0 run to take a 14-7 lead after one period. The game marked the first action this season for Beaver point guard Andrew Taggart, battling from injury, and Riverside had momentum in a big way.
The Bombers took it away from them in the second period when Chris Collins scored seven points and Sam Rogers sparked the surge with eight, and a smothering defensive effort for Kenston’s Head Coach Derrick DeJarnette’s team held Riverside to just two buckets.
Kenston had a 27-23 halftime lead.
Taggart, obviously, was not yet on top of his game, but the emotional part of him being on the floor was not lost on Coach DeJarnette.
“I feel really bad for what Taggart has gone through this season,” the coach said. “He is, without a doubt, one of the best players in our area, and he makes things run smoothly for Riverside when he’s in a game. It was really good to see him back tonight in his first action of the season. You have to be ready to play your best when you see him in uniform, and we were tonight.
“I think we played our brand of basketball tonight. We had two freshmen in our lineup, too, but they are learning to play as if they are seniors. They took shots tonight that you usually only see experienced varsity players take, and they took those shots with confidence.”
The freshmen Coach DeJarnette referred to are Jackson Allotta and Adam Barr.
Allotta has used his speed to run the Bomber offense this season with improving results, and Barr has come off the bench to provide both inside and outside scoring and defense. With Taggart still quite limited, those two Bombers got help from other teammates to take the lead back early in the fourth quarter after Matt Priest converted a put-back of his own miss at the buzzer.
The Beavers (6-11, 3-2 in WRC) were up 39-38 after three.
Barr made two hoops, one a trey, to open the fourth period for Kenston (2-15, 1-4 in WRC). But after a Colin Durking 3-pointer gave the lead back briefly, 44-43, Allotta and Brownfield each scored again to retake it, and the defense held on for the win.
“It’s always better to start winning games at the end of the season,” Coach DeJarnette added. “I hope to peak heading into the tournament action. You have to face the best of all teams to be ready, and with Taggart back tonight — which was such a blessing to see for him, especially — getting wins now will be good for us, too.”
Barr led the balanced offensive effort with 14 points. Collins added 12, as did Rogers. They shot the ball well from close range and long distance, but a key factor to the Bombers’ growing success was having eight players score points and seven record assists, meaning ball movement was solid all night long.
Colin Durkin had 14 points for Beavers Head Coach Matt Grendel, and Drew Brown added 12. His offensive work lately has been very productive, but tight work from the Bombers would not allow him to get into good positions to score.
The Beavers hit on only 14 of their 50 shots, many in awkward spots. Ball movement for Kenston, on the other hand, was patient when it had to be, especially after they resumed the lead in the fourth period. They worked the ball for at least four or five open layups late in the game, and were able to pass them all up until Allotta hit Collins for a layup under the hoop with only a couple of seconds left to play.
The Bombers are improving at the right time of season.
