By SAM KING
Lafayette Journal & Courier for the Kokomo Tribune
January 15, 2008 11:14 pm
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LAFAYETTE — Kokomo became the most recent victim of Lafayette Jeff’s athleticism.
The Wildkats began Tuesday night’s boys basketball game in a zone defense hoping to take away Jeff’s 3-point shooting. The Bronchos responded with dribble penetration and good ball movement during a 77-59 win.
The victory improves Class 4A No. 7-ranked Jeff to 8-0 at the Crawley Center this season and 12-1 overall.
“They’re an outstanding team,” Kokomo coach Brian McCauley said. “They’ve got terrific 3-point shooters and you couple that with great athleticism and penetration. You try to defend the 3, and that’s what we tried to do, then they take us off the dribble.”
The Bronchos connected on 45 percent of their shots, led by Brandon Williams’ 9-for-15 effort and 24 points. Williams sank a deep 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to put the hosts up 16.
Williams, Broderick Lewis and Blaine Koger contributed to Jeff’s 44-28 halftime lead. Koger scored all 11 of his points in the opening half with the help of three treys. The trio combined for 35 first-half points.
The Wildkats kept the game close in the first quarter before starting guard Alston Andrews received a cut below his eye. Andrews dropped to the ground, delaying the game several minutes and didn’t return. McCauley said the injury will require several stitches.
With Andrews out of the game, Jeff outscored Kokomo 21-8 in the second quarter.
“That was a significant blow to him and to our team, and we obviously didn’t respond very well to that,” McCauley said.
With Andrews out of the game, Kokomo went to its 6-foot-6 center, Patrick Hopkins. Hopkins gave the Bronchos fits with a double-double effort of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
“He’s a post guy that plays all over the place,” Jeff coach Scot Bunnell said. “He’s a tough matchup because he’s such a big, rugged kid.”
“We tried to help down, and he kept doing his little spin move and getting to the basket,” Williams said.
Hopkins scored the first eight Wildkat points of the second half. He was matched on the other end by Shane Wyant, who scored all nine of his points in the third period.
The Bronchos also showed their athleticism on the defensive end, forcing 21 turnovers.
“We just didn’t make good decisions and a lot of that was Lafayette Jeff’s pressure,” McCauley said. “It was a combination of an outstanding team in Jeff and they’ve obviously been well drilled. They out-toughed us [Tuesday] and that really showed in the turnover situation.”
Lewis finished the game with 10 points, eight of those in the first half. Roddy Richardson had eight points and 10 rebounds for the Bronchos. Sophomore Colton Summers scored 16 for Kokomo (6-6), including four 3-pointers.
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