Tigers Take Drexel Tournament Title

 

The Kingsville boys basketball team played true to its No. 1 seed in the William D. Gordon Holiday Classic Tournament hosted by Drexel High School by defeating the No. 2 seeded host team Drexel Bobcats in the first-place game by the final score of 64-46 on Monday, Dec. 30.

The Tigers worked to a 34-28 halftime lead before displaying a strong defensive effort in the second half to pull away from the Bobcats in the third and fourth quarters.

The tournament win marks the second title for the Tigers on the season after winning the Pilot Grove Tournament, and Kingsville’s three wins in the Drexel Tournament served as an opportunity to bounce back from two losses leading up to the Holiday Classic.

“When we practiced yesterday, we talked about you get to a championship, don’t blow the opportunity,” said Kingsville boys basketball coach Bill Adams. “I’m just really proud of them for their effort. I’m proud of the bench support. The fans we had here, they were loud. All seven players that played contributed in their own way.”

After Tiger senior Isaac Hawthorne opened scoring in the game on two-point field goal, the lead changed hands between the two teams multiple times through the first period.

Two three-point baskets from Kingsville senior guard Brayden Barnett, combined with buckets and free throws from juniors Christian Stevenson and John Fleeman kept Kingsville within a point of the Bobcats entering the second quarter with Drexel up 17-16 after a quarter of play.

Two treys from senior Brady Stout and a three-pointer from sophomore Gavin Mullins boosted Kingsville in the second quarter as Hawthorne, Barnett, Fleeman, and Blake Utterback contributed scoring in the second stanza.

Kingsville’s 18 points scored in the second quarter pushed the Tigers to their 34-28 halftime lead as Drexel posted 11 points in the same period.

Fleeman scored 16 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 23 points in the game. During Kingsville’s first-round win over Chilhowee, Fleeman led the Tigers in scoring with 19 points before scoring eight in Kingsville’s semifinal win against Midway when Mullins led the Tigers with 14 points.

“We came off two hard losses right after that first tournament win, and we’re just trying to bounce back,” said Fleeman. “We’ve had some rough games. In the end, we’re just doing whatever it takes to win. Not all of us had our best games tonight, some of us didn’t have the best games in the tournament, but the people that stepped up, all the people that other people don’t think about and stuff like that, they really stepped up big.

“Then, we just made winning plays,” added Fleeman. “A couple of us just knew that hey, we might not be the leading scorers, we know we’re going to get fouled and we know they’re going to focus on us, but it doesn’t matter. We’re going to do what it takes to win on both sides of the ball.”

Coming out of halftime, a two-point field goal by Drexel cut Kingsville’s lead to four points before Stout stole a Bobcat pass and turned the theft into two points on a lay-up. Fleeman followed with a field goal of his own during Kingsville’s next possession. Stout gave the Tigers an 11-point lead on his third trey of the game shortly after Fleeman’s bucket. Stout finished the game with 11 points.

“The focus every day is play my best whether I’m hitting or playing the best defense I can play, regardless,” said Stout. “I’ve just got to come in and do what I need to do, whether it’s helping John get a lay-up, or helping another kid get a three. It’s just little things that I don’t have to be the one that’s hitting the three, but I need to contribute in other ways.”

Drexel drained a three-pointer and followed with a basket from inside the arc to cut the score to 41-35 before Kingsville finished out the quarter on a 3-1 scoring advantage. Kingsville proceeded to expand its 44-36 lead at the end of the third quarter in the fourth.

Stevenson, Utterback, Barnett, Hawthorne, and Fleeman each contributed points in the final frame with Kingsville totaling 20 points versus Drexel’s 10 points scored in the closing period.

A 13-2 scoring advantage to end the game began with two made free throws from Stevenson. Back-to-back baskets from Fleeman, and a field goal from Barnett offset a two-point basket from Drexel during the 13-2 run.

“We felt like we were the better team, and we worked hard for this all season,” said Barnett. “We have probably the best big (Fleeman) in the state, so I’d say he was a big part of our game plan. We stopped No. 2 (Kolbi Nichols) over at Drexel. He’s pretty good. Christian Stevenson, he did a pretty good job.”
After noting Stevenson’s defensive effort, Barnett tipped his cap to Fleeman’s focus in the second half.
“We started feeding John a lot more, and I think our defense really picked up,” said Barnett. “They hit a few crazy shots that kind of kept them in it for a little bit, but we stepped up on D and we got them tired.”
Barnett finished the game with 12 points.

Stevenson finished the game with five points to go with his defensive effort in guarding Nichols.

“I think Christian does great things,” said coach Adams. “He doesn’t score as much as I think he can, but he runs the show. That takes a lot of energy, and he’s usually covering the other team’s best perimeter player. No. 2 is a really good player. They’re a good team. They’re coached well. They have good players.
“It’s our player’s credit,” continued coach Adams. “Once the game starts, you don’t have a whole lot to do with it. They do, and man, they stepped up. They stepped up in a big way, and at the end I’m proud of them, happy for all of them.”

An old-fashioned three-point play from Fleeman when he was fouled on a made shot late in the fourth quarter was followed by a made free throw from Hawthorne.

Fleeman converted two free throws in the final seconds of the game to close out scoring in the contest.
Hawthorne totaled five points, Utterback scored four, and Mullins also put in four points after leading the Tigers with 14 points in their semifinal win.

“He was huge in that game,” said coach Adams in regard to Mullins’s semifinal output. “He came off the bench, had four threes, and stole the ball for a lay-up. He saved us in that game. He really did.

“I know they all wish they could score a ton of points, but like some of them told me, ‘I just want to win.’ They realize throwing it inside to John when he’s open helps us win. There are other ways to contribute. Isaac hardly ever shoots. He’s going to rebound, he’s going to play defense.

“Those are things we talked about,” summarized coach Adams. “Basketball is a team game. It’s not just one guy. They work hard. They deserve everything they get. Just kudos to the players. I’m really happy for them. I know I’ve said that 12 times, but I am.”

All-Tournament Team… For their play in Kingsville’s three games in the William D. Gordon Holiday Classic Tournament, Tiger players Brady Stout and John Fleeman were named to the all-tournament team.

Tigers Tame Lions
Playing in a home game against Plaza Heights, the Kingsville boys basketball team defeated the Lions by the final score of 64-46 on Friday, Jan. 3.

Kingsville took a 27-12 lead after a quarter of play before the Lions found a 16-10 scoring advantage in the second period to leave the halftime score at 37-28 in Kingsville’s favor.

Kingsville scored 14 points in the third quarter as Plaza Heights managed just four points in the frame. The final period showed the Lions with a 14-13 advantage.

“We wanted a better second quarter,” said Kingsville boys basketball coach Bill Adams. “The second quarter all of a sudden we quit doing things that we did well in the first quarter. We got in foul trouble with two guys that we rely on a lot.

“We want to be better, so we’ve got to focus on being mentally tougher in all four quarters, not just the first quarter and the fourth quarter, but all of them because you never know what possession’s going to come up and be the big one. You have to treat them all that way, and always strive to do the right thing.”
For Kingsville, John Fleeman scored 23 points, Brady Stout totaled 15, Brayden Barnett scored 9, Christians Stevenson and Isaac Hawthorne each scored 6, Gavin Mullins scored 3, and Blake Utterback chipped in 2 points.

Following the win against Plaza Heights, the Kingsville boys basketball team held a record of 9-2.