Kokomo's boys basketball team  got a great game out of senior Demarius Warren. The 6-foot-5 forward scored 15 points as the Wildkats took control early and sailed to a 72-50 victory over the visiting Panthers in Memorial Gym.. Warren, who played less than a minute of varsity action his entire junior season, shined in his first extensive minutes with the Kokomo varsity. He cut to open spots to score on seven shots without missing once, took five rebounds, and showed the disruptive defensive presence Wildkat coach Brian McCauley loves. As did the entire squad. Kokomo's starting guards put the Kats in good spots. Mykal Cox scored a team-high 16 points and had six assists, and Jeron Gray added a dozen points and four assists. Forward Erik Bowen added 15 points and was commanding on the glass with a dozen rebounds. Kokomo took a 21-13 lead at the first stop. The first quarter offered a clear look at how Kokomo turned the game its way. Kokomo outrebounded Western 9-1 in the quarter. Brad Dockemeyer snagged two offensive rebounds on missed free throws, first leading to a Cox bucket, then converting the second for a 3-point play. 
The Kats had eight offensive rebounds by halftime and held a 35-22 lead on the scoreboard. Kokomo pushed the lead up to 20 points at 46-26 midway through the second half on nearly identical feeds to Warren. First, Gray drove into the lane, drew defenders and delivered a good feed to a knifing Warren for a layup. The next possession was nearly identical, except with Cox supplying the pass. Kokomo's lead was never smaller than 18 points after that. Western got 19 points out of guard Des Balentine, but Kokomo limited Evan Warden to five as the Kats made it a priority to keep the dangerous Panther backcourt from driving and getting to the foul line. Wing player Austin Weaver had eight points. Every Western starter attempted a 3-pointer in the opening minutes of the first quarter. Western finished 7 of 26 from 3-land. 

"We had some open shots that didn't go down," Miller said. "Our shooting wasn't necessarily on, but we decided to live and die by the that 3 and [Wednesday] night we died by it." 

The final score was Kokomo  Western   .

-The Junior Varsity game was taken by  with the final score there being 
Kokomo 36  Western 28 

 

 Since earning its first win in program history in 2006-07 against Kokomo, the new Fishers High School has struggled mightily against the Wildkats. Kokomo had won six in a row over the Tigers headed into Saturday’s night’s game, but senior Kortland Townsend made sure that streak ended. Townsend scored 29 points to lead Fishers to a 62-58 victory over Kokomo (1-1). He was 4 of 6 from 3-point range and a perfect 9 of 9 at the free throw line. “That’s the thing, they were challenged shots,” Kokomo coach Brian McCauley said. “The biggest shot of the game was a contested, deep 3 and you have to credit him. He hit it. He was a guy averaging seven free throw attempts per game so if you get up in to him, he’ll drive and go to the free throw line.” Townsend’s 3-pointer from well beyond the arc at the top of the key gave Fishers the lead for good at 54-52 with 2:18 left. Kokomo had taken the lead on the previous possession when Jeron Gray drove to the basket and scored to make it 52-51 Kats with 2:48 left. Gray was fouled and had a chance to expand on Kokomo’s first lead since 6-5 early in the first quarter, but he was short on the free throw. Townsend’s clutch shot gave Fishers some breathing room, and free throws proved to be the difference the rest of the way.In addition to Gray’s miss, Erik Bowen missed 1 of 2 free throws with 1:58 left to make it 54-53 Fishers. Devin Choudion scored 14 seconds later and after a Bowen miss with less than a minute to go, 
Fishers hit 6 of 6 free throws in the final 35 seconds to keep Kokomo at bay. Fishers finished the night a perfect 13 of 13 from the line. “Free throw shooting did hurt us in the end,” McCauley said. “We lose by four and we missed five free throws when they didn’t miss any. If we go perfect from the line, we win the game. It came down to the line and that is an emphasis we make in practice every day.” For most of the night, Townsend had an answer to every Kokomo run. Fishers was never able to run away and hide as its biggest lead was eight, 26-18, midway through the second quarter after a tight first quarter. Baskets by Bowen and Demarius Warren helped Kokomo get the lead down to four at 28-24 by the end of the half. Kokomo fought back to tie the game at 33-33 at 5:40 left of the third quarter when Mykal Cox connected on a long 3-pointer, but Choudion responded with a 3 of his own assisted by Townsend. Fishers led 49-43 going into the final period, but Kokomo used a 9-2 run by Bowen, Warren, and Gray to take its brief lead. Gray also hit a triple and a two-pointer in the final minute to bring Kokomo within two each time, but Townend added two free throws and Choudion added two more with 13 seconds left to clinch it. “Credit Fishers for just shooting the ball very well,” McCauley said. “They were even on the boards with us, which hurt us, and they got to the free throw line more, but we still did a lot of good things.”
The quarter scores were 17 to 13; 28 to 24; 49 to 43; and 62 to 58, all led bt Fishers. Bowen had 20 points to lead the Kats while Warren had 12 and Gray had 11. Kokomo hit on only 4 of 8 3 pointers and they pulled doen 20 rebounds while they had 9 turnovers and 13 fouls.. 
 
 
 

The Junior Varsity score was Fishers 44, Kokomo 25  

 At least one thing is for sure: Kokomo’s North Central Conference boys basketball opener Friday night certainly wasn’t short on thrills.as the Wildkats and Muncie Central battled through nine lead changes and 14 ties, needing an extra session before a victor emerged. The final :05 of the overtime is what will have people talking the longest, though, as the game went down to a final shot that left the Bearcats roaring and the Kats shaking their heads in disbelief. Up 53-52 with :5.8 showing, Kokomo senior Erik Bowen swatted Phillip Corthen’s 3-point attempt into the stands. On the inbounds, with :5.2 showing, Marcus Dukes drove the lane and threw up an errant shot. Tyler Arens grabbed the rebound, turned, and got a shot off that left his hand just as time expired. Several times in the extra session, Central tried to put the game away with the 3-ball, but was 0 of 4 following Corthen’s blocked attempt. Kokomo called a timeout following that play, and the Bearcats set up a play for the inbound. “It’s just tough, Our guys played so hard, did so many great things. It’s disappointing to see that we were 9 of 12 on 3-pointers and we lose. We could just as easily be 3-0 as 1-2 right now.” The loss, which dropped Kokomo to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the NCC, wasn’t without some great performances. “Mykal just played his guts out,” McCauley said. “And what a huge game Brad Dockemeyer played for us. Erik Bowen was huge as well.” Dockemeyer finished with a team-high 15 points, going 5 of 6 from 3-land. Bowen had 13 points, while Demarius Warren finished with 11. The Kats led Muncie Central (4-0, 1-0) 14-11 at the first stop before the Bearcats battled back to tie the game at 23-all at the half. Warren’s buzzer-beater at the end of the third period put the Kats up 40-38 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. Kokomo clawed back from a five-point deficit with under 2:00 to play to knot the game at 51-all and force the extra session. The Kats made 9 0f 12 tries at the 3 point line and pulled down 21 rebounds while turning the ball over 9 times and commited 17 fouls.

 The Junior Varsity also took it on the chin losing their game by the score of 

Muncie 46 and Kokomo 42 
with Sparling scoring 10 points and Vetter scoring 9 points.

Marion came to Kokomo and they played like a State Final team. They caused Kokomo to turn over the ball several times and they stayed several steps ahead of our Kats in going to the ball instead of waiting for the ball to get to them. Blackman took it upon himself to show us why we will like him at Indiana. Our young  Kats were about a step behind in just about every play and it is back to the practise floor to get some tuning up. We will win several games but we have to want it hard enough to do it. The final score in this game was Marion 75  Kokomo 51

Our Kats were led in scoring by Bowen with 15 and Cox with 11 points. They hit 14 of 46 field goal attempts and converted on 21 of 30 free throw attempts.
They hit only 2 of 13 from 3 point land, turned over the ball 24 times,pulled down 36 rebounds and had 18 fouls.

The Junior Varsity tooked it on the chin by the score of Jeff 35  Kokomo 24 with Barretta leading the way with 9 points.

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In their second game against Guerin Catholic our Kats lost in overtime by the score of Catholic 50 Kokomo 42. The Kats were led by Bowen with 15 points followed by Warren with 9 and Cox with 8 points. Kokomo led at the 1st and 2nd stops and tied at the 3rd stop. Kokomo hit on only 1 of 8 3pointers, pulled down 27 rebounds, had 14 turnovers and 16 fouls.

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In the last game in the tourney Kokomo defeated Noblesville by the score of Kokomo 38  Noblesville 36 with Bowen leading the way with 15 points followed by Cox with 9 points. The Kats hit on 13 of 33 field goal attempts and made 8 of 10 free throws. They pulled down 18 rebounds committed only 7 turnovers and had 11 fouls. Kokomo held Noblesville to only 1 point in the final quarter to gain this victory. The Kats are now 3 and 5 for the season so far.
 

 
Our Wildkats took on Peru and it looked like they were start playing the way we know they can play under the watchful eyes of Coach Mccauley. They led at all stops in this one and they moved the ball well and kept Peru from gaining any momentom with good defense. The Kats were led by Cox with 15 and Bowen with 14 followed by Dockmeyer and Matthewa with 10 each. Our Kats pulled down 29 rebounds had 9 turnovers and had 16 fouls but only hit on 3 of 10 3 points shots. They made 30 of 51 shots and converted on 10 of 14 free throws. The final score was Kokomo 73  Peru 39.
 

The junior Varsity on their game by the score of Kokomo 57  Peru 27 with Kenner leading the way with 12 points.

New Castle came to town on this cold winter night to play in a boys/girls doubleheader and they knoked off the Trozens by the score of Kokomo 53, New Castle 46. Our Kats were led by Warren with 14 points and Mattews with 13 and Bowen with 11 points. New castle had a decent 1st quarter leading at the end of the quarter 11 to 16, but that was the only lead they had. Our WildKats hit only 1 of 5 shots from 3 point land, and hit only 18 of 31 shots from the field while converting 16 of 24 from the free throw line. They pulled down 29 rebounds and had 8 turnovers while commiting 15 fouls. Kokomo is 5 and 5 for the season as of now. 
There was no junior varsity game in this boys/girls doubleheader.

Carmel at Kokomo Boys

Another cold night to play the game but carmel came to town to play our Boys team and they came with power and execution as they just did everything right to gain a 62 to 36 decision behind the play of thier towering senior Zack McRoberts, who scored 21 points. The Wildkats very seldom got more than 2 shots at the basket as most of the time it was 1 and done. Cox led our Kats with 13 points and Bowen had 12 points. Our Kats were behind the whole game and hit only one of 14 shots from 3 point land. They had 25 rebounds, 9 turnovers and 14 fouls while hitting on 13 of 44 shots from the field and converted 9 of 15 at the free throw line.

Our Junior Varsity took their game by the core of Kokomo 41, Carmel 33 with Beard scoring 8 points and rawlings 7 points. 

 Westfield came to Kokomo to play basketball and it loked like the snow might of gotten into the gym as kokomo started off slow with Westfield leading at the 1st quarter stop by the score of 19 to 11. But Kokomo went on a 17 to 3 run to finish off the 1st half and leading by the score of 36 to 31. zxd
Then they went on a 14 to 2 run in the second half and this game was ours as Warren had his best game ever scoring 30 points with Bowen scoring 17 and Cox 12 points. 
Kokomo hit on 25 of 42 shots from the field and converted on 27 of 32 free throw attemps . Kokomo put up 8 shots from 3 point land hitting 3 of them. Kokomo had 13 turnovers and committed 19 fouls. Our Varsity is 6 and 6 for the season so far.

Our Junior Varsity lost their game by the score of 50 to 43 with Beretta scoring 10 points and Beard scoring 8.

Our Wildkats took their game to a new level as Taylor Persons was back in the lineup after being out for a ACL injury and he did not disappoint anyone as he scored 16 points and played with desire and strength. The Kats led at all stops and it lookedlike it was going to be a blowout as Anderson just could not get the game going. Cox added 17 points and Dokemeyer chipped in 18 points. Our Kats pulled down 36 rebounds, committed 14 turnovers, and had 24 fouls. They only hit 2 from the 3 point land and made 20 out of 50 shots from the field while converting on 14 of 25 from the free throw lane. Very good game from the whole team.

The Junior Varsity lost their game by the score Anderson 43  Kokomo 42. The Referee called two lane violations and a travel all on the same plater from Kokomo in just under a minute. I don't usually say negative things about Referees but tonight our JV team was robbed by one man in the striped shirt. As a spectator and could see the play closely, there was no reason to call any of those violations. Thats all I am going to say about it.Vetter led Kokomo with 11 points

Our WildKats Boys Team went to Harrison on this snowy night to take on Laf Harrison and the game was played with great team output as this being the second game since Persons came back, the team played like the Kats of old and their offensive game was great. Persons gave the Kokomo crowd a good game of 21 points, and the rest of the team added some great scoring too. Bowen chipped in 18 while Cox added 11 points. Our Kats hit 28 of 55 shots from the field and converted 19 of 26 free throw attempts. The Kats led at all stops and the fans went home happy and await the next game to play.

The final score tonight was Kokomo 78  Harrison 65.

 
Kokomo took on Huntington North tonight when Huntington was having a ballgame in 3 different parts of their Gym due to making up poseponments. Oyr Wilkats were ready to go but at first Huntington was not about to let us runaway with this one as they mounted an attack and took the first quarter by a score of 14 to 8. That is when our Kats took it amoung temselves to come back with a strong shooting night and they hit 9 of 10 shots from the field and took a halftime lead of 30 to 18. The rest of the game was solid on both sides as Bowen led our Kats with 16 points while Persons add 13 and Gray added 10 points. Kokomo hit 29 of 46 from the field and converted 9 of 12 free throws. We hit only 2 of 8 from 3 point land pulled down 27 rebounds had 5 turnovers and 9 fouls. Good game from our Wildkats as the final score was Kokomo 69  Huntington 51.

Our Junior Varsity won their game by the score of Kokomo 50  Huntington 32 with Rawlins scoring 16 while Sparling had 14 points.
 

Kokomo took a very strong game to Labanon this cold Saturday evening and came away with a 33 point win. Our Boys WildKats have won 8 out of the last 9 ballgames. They had a 23 to 3lead in the 2nd quarter  using great teamwork. At the half it was Kokomo 33  Lebanon 15 at the end of the first half. Scoring was spread out with Bowen scoring 14 points,Warren with13, Cox with 13, Persons with 11, and Mathews with 10 points. The Wildkats hit on 5 out of 15 from 3 point land and hit a total of 27 shots from the field, and converted 15 of 18 from the free throw line. They pulled down 30 rebounds, committed 10 turnovers, and also 15 fouls. Great game as we get close to tourney time.

The Junior Varsity won their game by the score of Kokomo 44  Lebanon 38 with Beard scoring 16 points.

 
Logan came to play as they drained the air with 3 point shots and it loked like this was going to be another barnburner that usually happens when these 2 teams play. And at the half it was tied at 33 all. Logan had given us it's best shot and we stayed with them for that half of basketball played right here in Memorial Gym. 
When the boys came back out on the floor, you could see that Coach had given them to go- sign to take this game over and that is what they did. Everyone stepped up and the fans loved it. Our Kats were led by Persons with 27 points putting him over  the 1000 point mark, with Warren scoring 19 and Bowen scoring 13. This was a solid game as everyone who played ,gave their all and that is what a good team does. This game was won by the score of  Kokomo 74 , Logansport 54. 
Our Kats hit on 7 of 15 from 3 point land, pulled down 28 rebounds hd only 9 turnovers, and only 10 fouls for the game. This was a great game for the fans as it is getting close to tourney time and time to get better,

Our Junior Varsity  won their game also by the score  of Kokomo 51  Logansport 37 with Beard leading the way with 16 points.
 

This game started out even ,but soon it looked like McCutcheopn would run away with it but our Wildkats said "NO YOU WON'T". 
Kokomo was behind with about 5 minutes to play in the 3rd quarter when they took over with a 10 to 2 run to tie the game at the end of the 3rd quarter. McCutcheon took advantage of Kokomo fouls and had a confortable lead but Kokomo went on a drive scoring 34 points to McCutcheon scoring only 13 over the final 13 minutes of this game. 

The Wildkats were led by Persons with 22 points, Warren scoring 17 points and Bowen scoring 13 points. The Wildkats had only 4 turnovers the full game, while committing 16 fouls, and pulling down 42 rebounds. They took 15 shots from 3 point land, hitting only 2 of them. They hit on 20 of 60 field goal attemps, and converted 19 of 26 free throws. 
This was another of those full team efforts as our Wildkats brought home the win at a score of Kokomo 61  McCutcheon 48.
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 In the Junior Varsity game, Kokomo got the win by the score of Kokomo 41  McCutcheon 34. with Vetter and Kenner leading the way with 10 points each  followed by Rawlings and beard with 8 points each. 
 
 

Like it always is ,playing in Richmond , this game was no different as Richmond shot the eyes out in defeating our Wildkats by the score of Richmond 81  Kokomo 73. The 1st half was about even ,although Richmond led at the half 40 to 31. The 2nd half started out strong for Kokomo ,but Richmond did not falter their lead, even though Kokomo cut the lead to 5 points.with a little more than 3 minutes to go. Richmond had 8 3 pointer in the 1st half but only 2 in the second half.  Richmond had their shooting eyes on as they hit the free throws that ensured victory for them. 
Kokomo was led by Persons with 20 points and Bowen with 19 points. This game was tied at 19 all at the end of the first quarter but then on it was Richmond who led through out. Our Kats hit on 7 of 12 shots from the 3 point line, and for the game they hit a total of 23 out of 42 shots from the field, and converted on 20 of 26 free throws. They pulled down 24 rebounds, had 12 turnovers and committed 23 fouls. Again the winner tonight was Richmond by the score of 81 to 73. 

The Junior Varsity won their game by the score of Kokomo 32  Richmond 27 with Rawlins and Beard scoring 9 points each.
 

 
Bowman Academy at Kokomo Boys

Kokomo took on Bowman Academy tonight who was sceduled  to take the place of the Tipton at Kokomo game which was cancelled because of the heavy snow we had in January. This was Senior night and those seniors did their job . Our Wildkats started off a little slow and Bowman took advantage of it to play a decent 1st half but did up their defense in the 2nd half.  Kokomo went on 16 to 5 run to finish up the 1st half leading 39 to 34. Then in the 2nd half they jumped up to a 50 to 36  lead only to have Bowman go on a 15 to 2 run to make this game interesting At the end of the 3rd quarter it was 52 to 50  at the 3rd quarter mark. It was all Kokomo from then on as Kokomo won this game by the score of Kokomo 69  Bowman academy 56. The Kats were led by Bowen with 28 points, Cox with 16 points, Persons with 11 points, warren with 8 points, and Dockmeter with 4 points. Our Kats shot 49 from the field hitting 24 of them. They had 39 rebounds, 19 turnovers,  and 13 fouls. They converted on 19 from 27 at the free hrow line. Great game to keep our Kats ready for the turney. This game won by Kokomo 69 to 56.

Our Junior Varsity lost their game by the score of Bowman Academy 57  Kokomo 35..  with Beretta and Kenner scoring 11 points each.

This was a very close game and also it was a great game to play as it gets you ready for the tourney.  At the 1st stop, it was Kokomo leading 14 to 13. At the half it was  26 to 22, and at the 3rd quarter mark it was Kokomo still holding onto the lead by the score of 36 to 33. Then with 36 seconds left in the game, and the Kats ahead by the score of 49 to 47, Kokomo lost an inbound pass and Nortrop shot a free throw and missed it and then missed 2 put backs  and Persons pulled down the rebound and was fouled. and then hit both free throws to lead 51 to 47. Nortrop then shot one from the 3 point land and made it to make the score 51 to 50. Kokomo then held on to win this game by that score of 51 to 50. Persons had 25 points while Bowen had 17 and Cox scored 10 points. Our Kats hit on 19 of 42 from the field and 11 of 15 free throws. They hit only 2 out of 6 from 3 point land, and pulled down 27 rebounds, while fouling 13 times.
Again the final score was Kokomo 51  Northrop 50.

The Junior Varsity won their game by the score of Kokomo 38  Northrp 26 with Rawlings scoring 9 points while Kenner had 8 and Beard had 7 points.

Kokomo led at all stops in this game. Persons had 30 points, Cox had 13 and Bowen had 17 points. They hit 21 of 48 shots from the field and converted on 28 of 39 free throws. They only hit 4 of the shots from 3 point land. Kokomo pulled down 40 rebounds, had 17 turnovers, and fouled 20 times. Kokomo's defense held Blackmond to only 10 points which really won this game for Kokomo. Kokomo was ready and they controlled this game like the WildKats can.  Marion (18-5) jumped to a quick 10-3 lead against Kokomo in the 187th all-time meeting between the rivals, but the Kats followed with a 17-0 run to take control. They led 20-12 after one quarter, 35-29 at halftime and 49-38 after three quarters. The Kats hit 18 of 22 free-throw attempts in the final quarter to hold off the Giants.Our guys played an excellent basketball gameWe rebounded well, we attacked their pressure well. Persons was brilliant in the victory. The Indiana All-Star candidate scored a season-high 30 points and also had nine rebounds. He made 7 of 15 shots from the field overall and 1 of 3 from 3-land. The Kat guard was 15 of 22 from the charity stripe — 10 of 13 in the final quarter.Indeed, the Kats received strong contributions from several other players including Erik Bowen (17 points and nine rebounds), Mykal Cox (13 points, five assists, three steals) and Brad Dockemeyer (four points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals).Dockemeyer played perhaps his best game of the season. The 6-foot-4 senior forward logged a team-high 31 minutes and was a force on the boards. Four of his game-high 10 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Kokomo topped McCutcheon 54-52 in overtime in the Class 4A Kokomo Sectional’s title game, one night after Wildkats upset rival Marion in the semifinal round in front of a charged crowd at the Memorial Gym. McCutcheon guard Nate Deno drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime in the tense title game, but the Kats scored first in the extra session and kept the lead the rest of the way for  Kokomo’s fourth straight sectional title and state-best 74th all-time Kokomo’s all-senior starting lineup willed the Kats to the sectional title in the seniors’ final game at Memorial Gym. Four starters — Bowen, guards Tayler Persons and Mykal Cox and forward Demarius Warren  played all 36 minutes. Bowen delivered game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Cox had 14 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals. Warren had 12 points and Persons had eight points and six assists. The Kats are 10-1 since Persons returned from a knee injury.Warren was clutch in the overtime. With Kokomo holding a 50-48 lead, he drilled a pair of free throws at :22. After McCutcheon closed to within 52-50 at :14, he went back to the line at :07 and hit two more to seal the win. Kokomo and McCutcheon went back and forth in regulation, battling through six ties and six lead changes. The Kats were up 17-11 after one quarter, 28-24 at halftime and 35-32 after three quarters.The Mavs (16-6) took a 39-37 lead at the 4:19 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Kats followed with a 6-0 run fueled by their defense. Cox scored in transition off a steal and Persons hit a 3-pointer for a 43-39 lead following another Mav turnover.The next two minutes saw both teams miss opportunities — the Mavs missed three shots and the Kats missed two shots and had a turnover. The Mavs’ Deno hit a jumper at :54 to bring his team within 43-41.Bowen hit both ends of a one-and-bonus opportunity at :18 for a 45-41 lead. The Mavs’ Spencer Caldwell hit a 3-pointer at :05 to make it a one-point game. Bowen made both ends of another one-and-bonus at :04 — and then the Mavs stunned the Kats with Deno’s buzzer-beater. The Mavs passed the ball down court to big man Trevor Lockwood at the top of the key and he kicked it to Deno on the wing.The Kats had two fouls to give. McCutcheon won the tip in the extra session. The Mavs missed a shot, retained possession, but then turned it over. Cox hit a 15-foot floater at 2:46. After another Mav miss, the Kats worked the clock before the Mavs finally fouled at :48. Persons split a pair of free throws for a 50-47 lead. After Lockwood split a pair of free throws at :31, Warren then was clutch down the stretch for the Kats.
THe Kokomo WildKats Are The Sectional Champs and They go to Marion for the Regional facing Homestead.