 |
|
Kahoks Make History
| Kahoks |
14 |
17 |
9 |
16 |
56 |
| Tigers |
13 |
16 |
9 |
15 |
53 |
1/21/2012 — Saturday night the Kahoks made history with their 56 to 53 win over the Oakville, MO Tigers in the Belleville East Mid-Winter Classic. The Purple and White became the third high school basketball program in the nation to reach the 2,000 win plateau. The other two high schools are Dobyns-Bennett of Kingsport, TN, and fellow Illinois high school Centralia. With the win the Kahoks recorded their 18th win on the year against three losses and finished two and one in the Classic.
The Kahoks led early and often in the first quarter and held a slim 14 to 13 lead at the end of the first period, but could never pull away from the Tigers. The Kahoks got their lead to nine points in the second quarter, but Oakville closed out the quarter on a run to trail 31 to 29 at halftime.
In the third quarter the Kahoks continued to have trouble shaking the upstart Tigers and never could extend their lead larger than five points. As the game continued, it seemed the Kahoks started to play tighter and feel the pressure of the big milestone at hand. After three quarters the Kahoks led only 40 to 38. Late in the fourth quarter Oakville ran off a seven to zero run to shock the Kahoks and take a 51 to 49 lead and worry the large crowd on hand in support of the Kahoks. After two free throws by Daryn Foster tied the contest at 51 with a little over a minute left, Falando Wilkinson made the play of the game with a steal on the inbounds pass, which led to two made free throws by Wilkinson to give the Kahoks the lead for good. The Kahoks went three for six from the free throw line, which gave the Tigers a chance, but when the final desperate 3-point shot was missed by the Tigers at the buzzer, all the Purple and White faithful could exhale knowing the 2,000 win plateau was reached. The Kahoks struggled once again from the field by shooting only 32%, but they dominated the rebounding department with a 36 to 24 edge over the Tigers.
Scoring for the Kahoks: Daryn Foster 12, Jaris Welmaker10, J’Vaughn Williams 10, Jason Kusnerick seven, Falando Wilkinson seven, Devonta Crochrell five and Caleb Johnson five points.
The Kahoks will be back in action next Saturday on the road vs. East St. Louis Sr. High School. Game time is at 2 p.m. for the JV game with the Kahoks Varsity to follow afterwards. This game was moved from Friday night to at the request of East St. Louis Sr. High School. With both teams tied for first place in the Southwestern Conference, it will be a huge game to determine who ends up on top at the end of the season.
|
|
|
Kahoks Comeback Falls Short
| Kahoks |
12 |
7 |
9 |
23 |
51 |
| Comets |
17 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
53 |
1/20/2012 — Friday night the Kahoks made a tremendous comeback against the McCluer Comets in the Belleville East Mid-Winter Classic, but came up short in a 53 to 51 loss to the Comets from Missouri. The Kahoks found themselves down all game, but almost pulled it off in the pursuit of win number 2,000 in the great Kahok Basketball history. The loss dropped the Kahok record to 17 and 3 on the year and 1 and 1 in the tournament.
The McCluer Comets came out in the first quarter hot led by Division I basketball recruit Demetrious Floyd, who was on fire scoring 10 points in the quarter. The Comets held a 17 to 12 lead after the first period as the Kahoks defense had trouble controlling him. In the second quarter poor free throw shooting and impatience on offense by the Kahoks with their shot selection allowed the Comets to increase their lead to 26 to 19 lead at halftime. The Kahoks would eventually go on to shoot just 7 for 15 from the free throw line on the night, which would come back to haunt them in the end. Two missed dunks by Daryn Foster and J’Vaughn Williams also hurt the Kahoks in the second quarter.
At the start of the second half the Kahoks tried a Box and 1 defense to try to slow down Floyd, but the Comets showed their balance as Leon Watkins stepped up and the Comets scored the first 8 points of the second half to up their lead to 34 to 19 mid-way through the third quarter. The Kahoks closed the gap to 38 to 28 at the end of the third period, but had dug themselves a huge hole to climb out of against a very good team.
In the fourth quarter the Kahoks used a 20 to 8 run to eventually tie the game at 51 on Foster’s layup with 11 seconds to go, but with everyone in foul trouble and the Purple and White out of timeouts, the Kahoks could not get back in transition and Watkins hit a game winning layup with four seconds to go to allow the Comets to escape with the win. The Comets will play host Belleville East Saturday for the championship of the Mid-Winter Classic. The Kahoks shot just 34% on the night from the field.
Scoring for the Kahoks: Daryn Foster 16, Jaris Welmaker12, Devonta Crochrell 12, J’Vaughn Williams 6, Jason Kusnerick 3 and Caleb Johnson 2 points.
The Kahoks will be back in action again Saturday night vs. Oakville High School from Missouri in the Kahoks final game of the tournament. Game time is at 5 p.m. as the Kahoks will try to reach the 2,000 win plateau again.
|
|
|
Kahoks Open Up Tourney with a Win
| Kahoks |
17 |
15 |
18 |
9 |
59 |
| Lancers |
6 |
13 |
13 |
11 |
43 |
1/17/2012 — Tuesday night the Kahoks moved one step closer to the coveted 2,000 win mark with a 59 to 43 victory over the Belleville Althoff Crusaders. The win pushed the Kahok record to 17 and 2 on the year. The team also was recognized on Tuesday with an AP State ranking of eighth in the State 4A poll, which is the first time in many, many years for the Kahok Basketball program.
The Kahoks busted out to a 17 to 6 lead in the first quarter as the Kahok defense limited the Crusaders ability to get quality shots. In the second quarter the Kahoks went cold from the field against the Crusaders 1-2-2 zone, and Althoff was able to climb back into the game with three minutes to go in the second quarter trailing 21 to 17. The Kahoks settled for mostly perimeter shots in the half, but they finished with an 11–0 run lead by attacking the basket and getting paint shots to go in at halftime with a 32 to 17 lead.
In the second half the Kahoks played even with the Crusaders and could never completely shake them with their biggest lead of the night coming at the 5 minute mark of the third quarter when the Purple and White was up 40 to 22. The Kahoks were actually outscored 27 to 24 by the Crusaders in the second half, but still coasted to the easy win.
Scoring for the Kahoks on the night: J’Vaughn Willaims 14, Daryn Foster 14, Devonta Crochrell 11, Jaris Wellmaker 10, Jason Kusnerick 8 and Caleb Johnson 2 points.
The Kahoks will be back in action on both Friday and Saturday night as they look to win victory number 2,000 as well as win the Belleville East Mid-Winter Classic. Friday night they take on McCluer, MO, at 8 p.m. and Saturday night they will be matched up with Oakville, MO, at 5 p.m.
|
|
|
article: Collinsville's Fletcher
was a basketball visionary
1/16/2012 —
Read Taylor Bell's article on CSNCHICAGO.COM.
|
| |
|
