We did not get to this scrimmage but we see a lot of promise for this years team as there is strength and speed there to work with.

 By Pedro Velazco ,Tribune sportswriter 

 Kokomo’s boys basketball team got its season started on a winning note Wednesday night when the Wildkats broke open a tight game and took control in the second half for a 52-30 victory over Western in a packed Richard R. Rea Gym. This rivary is one of the best all year.. The teams were tied at 19-19 at halftime following a rebound bucket by Western’s Austin Townsend at the buzzer. Kokomo hit their stride in the second half, coming out with a level of energy and execution that the home squad couldn’t match. LaBradford Sebree got the Kats rolling in the third quarter when he rebounded his own miss, then scored and was fouled to give Kokomo a 22-21 lead. The Kats never trailed again and Sebree was just getting started. He scored 11 poitns in the quarter en route to a game-high 22-point night.  Sebree found a rhythm with point guard Tayler Persons as the duo worked to get inside Western’s 2-3 zone for scores. Sebree scored three buckets in the third quarter directly off  Persons' feeds, and added a fourth from Persons on the opening hoop of the fourth quarter to push the Wildkats’ lead to 40-26. “We did a good job of getting the ball inside-out against their zone,” Wildkat coach Brian McCauley said. “LaBradford Sebree did a nice job of making some cuts. We did a nice job of post entries and finishing strong around the basket. “I think all of our guys did a great job of understanding what we wanted to get accomplished coming out of halftime.” Kokomo pushed its lead to 44-26 on a transition hoop where Persons fed Sebree early in the fourth quarter to finish off a 10-0 run and finish off the Panthers. Persons finished with nine points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Getting scores in the paint was a key. “Second half  they were able to get the ball inside,” Western coach Bart Miller said. “We tried to make an adjustment at halftime that our players just weren’t able to complete. We knew they were wanting to get the ball inside into the lane area. They were just bigger and stronger than we were and were able to hold their position.” On the other end, Western was trying to do the same thing but found it tough to get the ball into good positions against Kokomo’s 2-3 defense that was active inside and out. “We were great in the first half. We executed a lot better in the first half. Second half ... I honestly don’t remember but one time that we got the ball down into the post, like they did, against their zone,” Miller said. Western hit just 11 of 36 shots for the game. Evan Warden led the Panthers with a dozen points, and Austin Weaver added eight. “We scored, and obviously when you’re scoring, your defense gets a little better, it’s amazing how that works,” McCauley said of his squad’s defensive energy in the second half. “We were scoring and then we were able to get them sped up just a little bit, just a tick. “Kylee Beheler did a great job of rebounding. Erik [Bowen] was phenomenal, ad a double double, did a great job of anchoring our defense. And our bench play was tremendous.” Bowen had 11 points and a dozen rebounds for Kokomo, while Beheler added five boards. Sebree had six as the Kats outrebounded Western 41-24. “Rebounding — we knew that was going to be an issue coming in,” Miller said. “Not that we didn’t have guys crashing the boards, we just weren’t able to get to it. Their strength and athleticism really bothered us especially on the offensive glass.” McCauley also noted key performances from bench players Hakim Burnett (six points), Jeron Gray, Brad Dockemeyer and Mykal Cox (four points). Kokomo went to its bench enough to keep the energy level high all game.  It added up to a satisfying performance overall for the Wildkats
“Western is a very good team they’re going to continue to get better,” McCauley said. “When you’re playing on the road you have to come out with a lot of energy so I’m pleased with our effort.” Western got nine rebounds and four points from Austin Townsend, and five rebounds from Warden and Ronnie Smith The Panthers played without Kyle Mendenhall and Brad Hemmeger, who are out for six games due to violations of team rules.

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The Junior Varsity won their game by the score of Kokomo 51  Western  38

Kokomo took their game to Westfield to take on the Shamrocks, as  a dominant second half was once again the key for Kokomo’s boys basketball team as the Wildkats moved to 2-0 after struggling in the first half for the second straight game. Kokomo outscored host Westfield 46-16 in the second half to turn a 10-point halftime deficit into a 71-51 victory Saturday night. The game started as a clash of styles as Kokomo was content to get to the foul line by cutting to the basket, while Westfield fired away from long range. The Shamrocks hit on four of six three-point attempts in the first quarter but trailed 15-12 after one despite six lead changes.
The Shamrocks then stretched that margin from long range to 7 of 11 for the first half by hitting on three more attempts. After Kokomo pushed ahead 17-14 the Shamrocks went on a 12-0 run thanks to the playmaking ability of Ajay Lawton. The shifty guard had nine points and three rebounds as Westfield outscored Kokomo 23-10 in the quarter to lead 35-25 at halftime. The second half saw Kokomo storm out of the locker room as almost a totally different team. The Wildkats used their superior athleticism to turn up the defensive pressure and open with a 10-0 run to tie the game in the first two minutes and 40 seconds of the second half.
Tayler Persons was essential during the run as he scored six of the points on his way to a night that touched virtually every corner of the stat sheet. Persons finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals, most of which came in the second half. After Hakim Burnett tied the game at 35-35 with 5:20 left in the third quarter the teams traded scores until Burnett broke a 41-41 tie with a basket at the 3:08 mark of the third. That put Kokomo in front for good at 43-41, and started a closing 30-10 run that saw the Wildkats pull away in the final 11 minutes. Kokomo would lead 53-45 after three quarters thanks to Erik Bowen and Persons consistently getting to the basket. An 18-6 final quarter in favor of Kokomo came about from tenacious defense that collected 17 turnovers and 10 steals on the night. Kokomo also shared the basketball well with 17 assists, 12 of which came in the second half. 
LaBradford Sebree added 17 points for Kokomo to go with 15 for Bowen and 10 for Burnett. Kokomo also made the Shamrocks pay by getting to the free throw line 23 times and hitting 18 of them compared to only four charity attempts by Westfield. Kokomo had 31 rebounds to Westfield's 22. kokomo had 14 turnovers to Westfield's 17 and the fouls were Kokomo 13 and Westfield's 18

Fishers came to town to play our Wildkats and for a while they looked like this was going to be a nail biter.Persons turned in an outstanding performance to lead the Kats past the Tigers. The All-Area player scored a career-high 28 points and also had six assists, six rebounds and two steals.Persons  made 9 of 12 shots from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-land, and he made 8 of 8 free throw attempts.Persons came up biggest against Fishers when Kokomo needed a spark. 
Kokomo (3-0) led 20-12 after the opening quarter and 30-19 at halftime thanks to a 15-2 advantage in points off turnovers, but Fishers cranked up the pressure in the third quarter and clawed back into the game. The Tigers outscored the Kats 20-14 in the quarter thanks to 10 points off turnovers, but Persons’ nine points helped the Kats withstand the Tigers’ charge. The Tigers (2-2) went ahead 39-38 with 1:51 left in the quarter — but Persons drilled a 3-pointer and assisted on LaBradford Sebree’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, and the Kats had a 44-39 lead at the end of the quarter. The Kats scored the first seven points of the final quarter to regain control at 51-39. Persons fueled the run with five points, including a hoop-and-harm 3-point play. Backup forward Brad Dockemeyer gave the Kats a spark with a pair of corner 3-pointers for a 57-43 lead at 4:50. The Tigers came no closer than eight the rest of the way as the Kats secured the win with good free throw shooting. They hit 18 of 20 from the line in the second half, 22 of 27 for the game. Eric Bowen, who had 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds; Sebree, who had 12 points and five rebounds; and Dockemeyer (10 points) and Mykal Cox off the bench. Jaylon Brown, an Evansville recruit, led Fishers with 18 points. He had 11 points during the Tigers’ big third quarter. Again the scoring at the stops were20 to 10 at 1st quarter; 30 to 19 at the half; 44 to 39 after 3 quarters and Kokomo 75 Fishers 62 for the final score. Kokomo made 7 of 11 3 pointers, and pulled down 28 rebounds; commited 15 fouls and they had 10 turnovers. Kokomo likes to run and they can put the points on the board at a dominate rate.  The are big underneath and they don't masde too many bad decisions. At the start of the 2nd half, they went into a ball control game and got in trouble doing that . But it wasn't long before Coach sent his Kats on another scoring run and this game was history.

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The Junior Varsity won their game by the score of  46 to 29,with balanced scoring among the team.

Tough day at the NCC, as 2 perenial powers decided to go at each other and that they did as  The Wildkats and Bearcats hooked uu in one those backyard barnburners and the fans weren't disapointed.
The Kats (4-0, 1-0 NCC)  defense got tighter and more bothersome  and found ways to score en route to a 49-35 victory. Kokomo’s 2-3 zone bothered a Muncie Central team that is short on offensive weaponry and on the small side inside. But it didn’t stop with the 2-3 zone as the Kats got back in the game with opportunistic halfcourt traps in the first half, and then feasted in the passing lanes in the second half, leading to a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers.Kokomo took a 22-19 lead into the half on a full court dash by Tayler Persons where he turned a defensive rebound at one end into a layup at the buzzer. Central got a couple 3-pointers in the first few possessions of the third quarter to tie the game at 26-all at 6:50, but Central didn’t score again for the rest of the frame and the Kats took a 35-26 lead into the final quarter break.Persons  had a team-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds. Far from a solo effort, two of Persons’ four buckets came from spectacular efforts from his teammates. In the third quarter, he and Mykal Cox combined to force Central into a turnover, Cox leaped to secure the ball, then, all in one movement, spun in midair and threw an outlet pass to Persons who was off to the races for a fast break hoop. Then in the fourth quarter, Hakim Burnett did the same thing from the same part of the floor, again leading to a fast-break hoop for Persons. 
Burnett finished with 10 points, four assists and four steals in what McCauley called his best game. Sebree added nine points and three steals. And Cox had four assists including three great feeds to create hoops for Wildkat forward Erik Bowen. Inside, Bowen had eight points and eight rebounds, and Kylee Beheler had four points as the Kat inside players were too much for Central. Great balance scoring was the factor X as this whole team played like they had been together for years and knew what each player was going to be at al times. Kokomo hit 17 of 36 in field goal shooting, 15 of 20 in free throw shooting, pulled down 21 rebounds, committed only 8 fouls, and 12 turnovers.. Oh by the way, this game started out with the Kats down 9 to 0, before they got the show on the road for those Kokomo Fans.

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The Junior Varsity won their game by the score of  55 to 41 
with Matthews scoring 17 points.

Kokomo traveled to Marion to take on the Giants, and they were tested in the fact that either team could come out on the wining end . Kokomo led at all stops ,winning this game  57 to 55. Kokomo hit on only 2 of 6  3 pointers, pulled down 28 rebounds, committed 20 turnovers, and 16 team fouls.Once again It took a team effort and that we had..
as this is a game that both don't like to lose.

It was Saturday night Memorial Gym was host of the annual of Jeff and Kokomo, Kokomo out to extend their home winning streak to 18 games.Kokomo took control early and maintained that lead winning by the score of 45 to 35 .Kokomo used a stingy defense to keep this game, causing 18 turnovers , hit only 1 of 6, and they commited , pulled down 28 rebounds, and commited 11 turnovers,and 12 fouls, 

Taylor boys basketball player Nathan Gotshall picked the perfect time for a big game. Gotshall scored a career-high 21 points to lead the previously winless Titans past Eastern 55-49 in the opening game of the Coca-Cola Old School Sectional on Tuesday night at Memorial Gym. The 6-foot-4 wing also had 12 rebounds and three steals.

The Class 4A No. 8-ranked Wildkats took  on the Braves in the opening round of the Old School tournament Tuesday night, coming away with a win to allow them to play another game.The Wildkats’ harassing full-court pressure made life miserable for the Braves throughout. Kokomo finished the night with 23 steals as Maconaquah turned the ball over 31 times.The Kats took a 16-point lead into the fourth quarter, then outscored the Braves 35-7 over the final eight minutes to nail down the victory.Kokomo (7-0) overcame a sluggish start offensively to take a 12-11 lead into the second stanza. The Kats committed six turnovers in the opening quarter, allowing Maconaquah to hang around. The Kats took control in the second quarter with the help of its relentless pressure. Maconaquah committed 13 turnovers in the second stanza, with eight of those coming on Kokomo steals.The disarray offensively limited Maconaquah to six points on 3-for-4 shooting as Kokomo stretched its lead out to 29-17 by intermission.The Braves (3-3) weathered the storm momentarily in the third quarter, but could not close the gap to any closer than 10 points as all seven of their turnovers came via Kokomo steals.Kokomo senior LaBradford Sebree poured in 13 points in the third quarter, helping the Kats take a 46-30 lead into the final stanza.The Kats put away any thought of a Maconaquah comeback with a 22-5 surge through the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. Erik Bowen led the charge in the final period for Kokomo with 13 of his game-high 19 points.Freshman reserve guard Jeron Gray picked up the slack defensively in the fourth quarter with the bulk of Kokomo’s starters watching from the bench, nabbing three of the Kats’ six steals in the frame.Sebree added 17 points and four steals in the victory, while Gray, Tayler Persons, Hakim Burnett and Dylan Orbaugh each added eight points. Kylee Beheler pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Kokomo outrebounded Maconaquah 31-17 for the contest. 

 Kokomo’s boys basketball team played a road game Friday night in what has been a hostile environment for many teams venturing to Miami County.The Tig-Arena was hostile Friday — to the home team. Visiting Kokomo made sure of that. The Class 4A No. 7 Wildkats opened the game on a 9-0 run and didn’t relent until Erik Bowen canned a triple at the halftime buzzer for a 43-18 lead. The Wildkats went on to post a convincing 77-48 victory over Peru. Kokomo forced 25 Peru turnovers and blistered the nets on 33 of 55 shooting as they improved to 10-0 on the season.Tayler Persons set the tone for Kokomo. He scored the game’s first seven points. He started with a second-chance layup after an offensive rebound from Kat center Kylee Beheler, then hit a jumper, and next canned a triple. When LaBradford Sebree took a defensive rebound coast-to-coast for a deuce, it made the score 9-0 Kats with 4:50 left in the quarter and triggered Peru’s first timeout of the night. Persons finished with a game-high 24 points, followed by Sebree with 20. Hakim Burnett came off the bench to score 16 on efficient 7-of-8 shooting (with two freebies added in). Bowen scored nine points and in total nine Kats scored. Kokomo was particularly effective in transition where Sebree, Persons and Burnett kept making opportunities for quick buckets after Peru turnovers. Sebree had a sequence in the fourth quarter where he went to the ground to rescue a loose ball and fed Bowen for a deuce, then followed with two fast-break hoops to push Kokomo’s advantage to 66-41 after Peru had outscored the Kats by three points in the third quarter. Persons’ nearly full-court pass provided the last hoop of Sebree’s flurry. Persons finished with five assists, and guard Mykal Cox added three more in his first start of the season. Kokomo was more varied than usual out of necessity. Starters Cox, Sebree and Beheler each got two fouls in the opening half and sat the bench for the rest of the half. The Kats used 10 different players in the first two quarters and kept getting sparks each time they went to the bench. Besides Burnett’s scoring, Brad Dockemeyer took a team-high six rebounds, and Montanez Fowler, Dylan Orbaugh and Jeron Gray provided key minutes in the first half. The Kats led by 14 points, 21-7, at the end of the first quarter, and pushed the lead out to 25 points by halftime.

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Kokomo's Junior Varsity won their game by the score of  Kokomo 55  Peru  32 with Warren leading the way with 14 points.

The undefeated Kokomo boys basketball team found itself in unfamiliar territory Saturday night at Memorial Gym. After winning their last six games by an average margin of over 32 points per game, the Class 4A No. 7-ranked Wildkats found themselves trailing upset-minded McCutcheon by 13 points with 5:25 to play in the third quarter. But junior guard Tayler Persons scored 17 of his game-high 19 points over the next seven minutes to get Kokomo back in the game, and the Kats escaped with a 51-50 win to lift their record to 11-0. Kokomo’s 11-game win streak is its longest since coach Brian McCauley was a player for the Wildkats back in 1996. The contest came down to the wire. Ahead 43-39 with under seven minutes remaining, the Mavericks suffered a blow when 6-foot-7 junior center Trevor Lockwood came up hobbling and had to leave the game for over four minutes. Lockwood had made life miserable for Kokomo with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and six blocked shots on the night. The Kats took advantage. Persons hit a triple to narrow the gap to 43-42 at the 6:22 mark, and Kokomo tied the game at 44-44 on Hakim Burnett’s jumper after Mav Matt Muncy had split a pair of free throws. Persons blocked Mark Neill’s shot, and then Erik Bowen gave Kokomo its first lead since the opening stanza with a putback basket off Burnett’s miss that made it 46-44. Mykal Cox hit one of two freebies on the Kats’ next possession, but McCutcheon’s Tre’Shon Heard nailed a triple to tie and another to give the Mavericks a 50-47 lead with 2:09 to play. Cox followed Bowen’s miss to cut it to 50-49 and McCutcheon turned it over. Then Kokomo senior LaBradford Sebree nailed a jumper to put Kokomo ahead for good at 51-50 with 1:14 to play. Longwood gave the Mavs a great chance with an offensive rebound and pass to Nathaniel Acree who was fouled, but Acree missed both foul shots and Persons grabbed the rebound. Burnett was fouled with 16 seconds left but missed the front end of the bonus free throw and McCutcheon had one last chance. After a timeout at 0:05.4, Acree was stripped of the ball by Persons on a baseline drive and Bowen secured the loose ball for the win. Indeed, the Mavs won most of the statistical battles, outshooting the Kats 48 percent to 40 percent from the floor, outrebounding them 31-25, and blocking seven shots. But Kokomo forced 14 turnovers and committed only five and tallied 12 assists on their 21 baskets. Both teams shot poorly from the charity stripe, with McCutcheon hitting just 2 of 6 and Kokomo only 3 of 8. In addition to Person’s 19 points, Sebree added 15 for Kokomo. Persons and Bowen shared team rebounding honors with eight. The Mavs were paced by Lockwood’s double-double, and Heard and Nate Deno chipped in 12 apiece.

 By Travis Miller Tribune sportswriter The Kokomo Tribune

 In basketball it’s not how much you lead, but when. With a girls-boys North Central Conference doubleheader at New Castle Friday night, Kokomo earned a sweep despite leading for only 2.7 seconds in a combined 64 minutes of regulation.. “Wow,” said a tongue-tied Kokomo boys coach Brian McCauley. “We came in here [Friday] and beat a very physical and fundamentally sound basketball team. They are an extremely well-coached basketball team, but we got the rebounds and stops when we absolutely needed them.” Though the Class 4A No. 6-ranked Kokomo boys never led in regulation, the Kats were tied five times and kept up with a New Castle team that was extremely patient with every possession. The Trojans led by as much as six late in the third quarter, but Kat senior LaBradford Sebree tied the game on a putback of a missed shot with 1:58 left. New Castle then missed a shot on its next possession, and Kokomo held for the final short of regulation. Erik Bowen was fouled as he attempted to drive to the basket with 35.3 seconds left. Bowen missed both free throws and New Castle had a chance to win at the end of regulation. Tayler Persons prevented New Castle’s game-winning shot attempt with a block of a Steven Bennett jumper as time expired, sending the game to overtime. “They played their game. They are good three-point shooting team and a very good free throw shooting team,” said McCauley. “Korey Ryan gets to the free throw line at least eight times per game and [Friday] he was 8 of 10 from the line.” Once in the extra session, Kokomo won the tip and finally took the lead thanks to Persons. The junior guard drove the basket and scored with 3:04 left and got the bonus of a foul call on the play. He added the free throw, Kokomo’s first made free throw after going 0 for 4 in regulation, to put Kokomo in front 45-42. Finally trailing, New Castle was still content to be patient and work the ball around Kokomo’s 2-3 zone. Ryan attacked the zone with 2:33 left and was rewarded with a trip to the line. After a pair of made free throws Kokomo’s lead was cut to 45-44. The Wildkats attempted to work the clock, but Hakim Burnett took a wide open 15-foot jumper that just missed. New Castle corralled the rebound and held for their own last shot. Once again, Ryan attacked the basket but missed with six seconds left. Persons grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws with 5.4 seconds left before New Castle’s final desperation heave missed at the buzzer. “It’s tough in a game like this where you feel more athletic but you’re forced to pass the ball around the perimeter and be patient,” said McCauley. “Once you’re down you have to be even more patient and we were down from the beginning.”
New Castle started the game by hitting 11 of its first 15 shots to open a 25-22 lead at halftime. The 73.3 shooting percentage cooled considerably in the second half, as the Trojans were only 4 of 18 in the second half and overtime. New Castle did enjoy a significant advantage at the foul line, however, with 11 makes on 14 attempts to Kokomo’s 3-of-7 shooting. Kokomo was led by Persons, who finished with 19 points and three assists. Sebree added 14 points and seven rebounds, six of them coming on the offensive glass. Three times Sebree followed a missed shot for a key second-chance basket.

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 The seniors on Tipton’s boys basketball team made the most of their last shot to beat Kokomo.  Indiana All-Star candidate Mike Crawford scored 35 points and Blake Hoover hit a game-winning 3-pointer with :05 seconds remaining in overtime, lifting the Class 2A No. 3-ranked Blue Devils past the Class 4A No. 8 Wildkats 57-56 in a thriller Saturday night. Tipton (14-1) snapped a four-game losing streak in the long-running series and earned its first home-court victory over the Kats since the 1982-83 season. Saturday marked just the fourth time since the 1962-63 season that the Blue Devils were able to best the Kats at home. “All week, we’ve been preparing for this game,” said Crawford, who also had nine rebounds and two assists. “There was nothing more that I wanted to do than beat Kokomo this year. It was the only team in the regular season that I had never beat. It’s very fulfilling.”  Hoover was a thorn in the Kats’ side. In addition to hitting the game-winning shot, he hounded Kokomo guard Tayler Persons into an off night. Persons finished with a season-low four points — 13 below his season average — and had five turnovers along with six assists and six rebounds. Kokomo (12-2) seemed in control in the overtime session. Hakim Burnett hit a baseline jumper for a 56-52 lead with 1:19 remaining. After Tipton’s Nate Friend scored inside to make it 56-54 at :52, Persons went to the line for a one-and-bonus at :21.3. He missed the front end and the Devils rebounded. Following a timeout at :13.5, Hoover found himself with a clean look on the left wing. Kokomo had one final shot at the win, but Persons’ running jumper from the top of the key missed, setting off a court charging by Tipton’s student section.  The OT session capped a tense, back-and-forth game. Kokomo was up 15-13 after the opening quarter and Tipton led 29-27 at halftime at which point Crawford had 19 points on near-perfect shooting — 6 of 7 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-land, and 5 of 5 from the free throw line. Kokomo held a 40-39 advantage after three quarters and was up 50-45 with 2:09 left in regulation, but Crawford hit a pair of free throws at 1:26 and Degenkolb took a charge on Persons at 1:07 to give the Devils possession. Crawford then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key at :40 to forge a 50-all tie. Hoover forced Persons into a five-second violation at :09.9, giving the Blue Devils a shot to win in regulation, but Crawford missed a contested drive in the closing seconds. The game featured nine lead changes and eight ties. Crawford had nine rebounds to go with his 35 points. Hoover finished with nine points.  Burnett led the Kats with 16 points, LaBradford Sebree had 15 points and Erik Bowen had 13 points and seven rebounds.  Kokomo lost despite shooting 59.1 percent from the field. Coach Brian McCauley pointed to the Blue Devils’ 14-7 advantage in offensive rebounds and free throw shooting as differences in the game. The Devils shot 10 of 12 from the line while the Kats struggled at the line, making just 3 of 7.

A night after a thrilling, last-second victory over conference rival Westfield, Harrison’s boys basketball team was unable to sustain its momentum in a 65-46 loss to Kokomo at Memorial Gym Saturday night. Kokomo never trailed, limiting Harrison (8-7) to only six shot attempts and helping force five turnovers as it built an 18-8 lead by the end of the first period. The Kats’ lead grew to 38-22 by halftime. Six of Harrison’s nine first-half turnovers came on Kokomo steals. “Early, we didn’t do a good enough job of getting the ball into the paint,” Harrison coach Mark Rinehart said. “Kokomo is very good defensively. But, in the early parts of the second quarter we got the ball to the baseline against their zone and got good shots, but we had to be able to hang around. All of their shots become easier if they have a 10-point lead or more. We just lost our connection to them.” Kokomo built the lead to 46-25 on a Hakim Burnett 15-foot jumper from the baseline with 4:40 to play in the third quarter. The Raiders responded with a 9-0 run to get back within 12 with 1:41 left. Cole Smith and Jacob Payne each scored a pair of buckets in the surge, but the Raiders were unable to inch any closer. Tayler Persons’ baseline drive and layup just beat the buzzer to give Kokomo a 50-34 lead headed into the fourth quarter, where the Kats’ lead swelled to as much as 23. Harrison finished with just 12 turnovers, but the Wildkats (14-2) made the most of their opportunities with 17 points off them. Persons finished with a game-high 21 points for Kokomo (14-2).Smith scored 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Teammate Taylon Sondgerath added 11 points. The score at all the stops were 18 to 8; 38 to 22; 50 to 34; and the final score was 54 to 46 all in favor of the Wilkats. Kokomo hit 5 of 13 shots from 3 point area and they pulled down 25 rebounds , committed only 10 fouls and 10 turnovers.

The Junior Varsity won their game by the score of Kokomo 47  Huntington North 29 with Gray scoring 13 points; Matthews with 8 points, Woodard with 7 points and Wilson with 6 points.
 

 The scoreboard at the end of the first game of the Class 4A Lafayette Jeff Boys Basketball Sectional on Tuesday night showed Kokomo notching a 30-point victory over Marion. It could have shown almost any margin, whatever Kokomo wanted. The No. 8-ranked Wildkats did as they pleased against their arch rivals, notching an 86-56 victory while playing subs liberally in the closing quarter. Kokomo did the heavy lifting in an explosive first half that saw the Kats take a 45-14 lead into halftime. “We wanted to come out to a fast start,” Kokomo’s LaBradford Sebree said. “We knew last time we played them we came out with a fast start, but we let up at half and ended up winning by two. We just wanted to impress our will.” Sebree was the first catalyst. He had a busy first quarter with seven points, three steals and two assists as the Kats raced to a 19-6 lead. Elsewhere, several players had big flurries that helped put the Giants down. Center Kylee Beheler had six points, all off offensive rebounds, in the opening frame. “We anticipated that Kokomo might come out and give us that halfcourt pressure because we showed some weakness against that last Friday against [Fort Wayne] Snider,” Marion coach Billy Shepherd said. “We knew we had to limit turnovers and I think we had eight or nine that first quarter. It kind of set the tone for the game. “Kokomo got great shots inside, they got second shots. We didn’t do a real good job. We weren’t aggressive, we were real passive defensively and when we’re that way, we become passive offensively, and I thought that was the difference.” 
In the second quarter, Erik Bowen hit a jumper from his pet spot in the high post and finished with eight points that frame, and Brad Dockemeyer came off the bench to swish two 3-pointers. His second trey gave the Kats a 31-point lead at the break. Kokomo pushed the lead to 37 points, 68-31, on a steal and layup from Tayler Persons deep in the third quarter and coasted from there on out with heavy minutes from reserves. “I really liked our intensity level, I liked our focus,” Kokomo coach Brian McCauley said. “I thought we did a good job of contesting their shots and blocking out and rebounding, and then I liked how we attacked appropriately versus their defense. There wasn’t too much to dislike, that’s for sure. I thought we got off to a good start and then really kept up that same intensity in the second quarter — got even better. Marion, they’re a tough team, they’ve won three of the last four, they have momentum and I thought we took away that momentum they had coming into the sectionals.” Kokomo takes a 20-2 record into the semifinal against Lafayette Jeff Friday at 6 p.m. Marion finishes the season 9-13. The Giants recently dismissed two players from the squad and suspended two others. Persons led the Kats with 16 points. Sebree had 15 points and six assists, Dockemeyer scored 11, Hakim Burnett and Bowen had 10 each, and Beheler ended up with eight points and a game-high seven rebounds. Mykal Cox added six points and five assists. McCauley noted boosts from players up and down the lineup, and a final spark from senior Jesse Broomfield. He played for the first time since suffering an ACL tear last season. He had a rebound and an assist. Kokomo has posted three straight 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1994-95, 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons. • Kokomo now owns a 106-79 advantage in its all-time series with Marion. The Tribune had an incorrect all-time record in Tuesday’s preview. It did not include a pair of Marion forfeits in the 1932-33 season.