Boys hoops: Kenston tops Willougby South, 75-63

by Don DiFrancesco
@MayorNEOPrep

WILLOUGBY, OHIO– Western Reserve Conference rivals Kenston and South matched each other basket for basket as the host Rebels held a 23-20 lead after the first eight minutes. But the shots stopped falling for South after that point and Kenston took advantage, rolling to a 75-63 win on Tuesday night.

The Bombers’ Michael Swartz scored 13 points in the second quarter as Kenston blitzed South with a 23-7 air attack. Swartz finished with 22 to lead all scorers for both teams.

Kenston (11-6, 6-4 WRC) also had good numbers from Keyshawn Merrill (16 points, six rebounds) and Ryan Kooser (13 points, seven rebounds).

The Bombers used a 19-9 run in the third quarter to get the lead out to 23 points at 62-39. From that junction, South (10-7, 7-4 WRC) was able to recover somewhat by closing the game on a 24-13 run, but the damage had been done.

Norman Hughes was the leading scorer for the Rebels with 15 points. His three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter gave the South fans some hope for a comeback, but the closest the Rebels would come in the second half was 11 points.

 

	1Q	2Q	3Q	4Q	FINAL
Kenston	20	23	19	13	75
Willougby South	23	7	13	20	63

Kenston

Swartz                  7-4-22

Merrill                  7-1-16

Kooser                  5-1-13

Long                      3-0-7

Batista                   3-0-6

Smith                     3-0-6

DeJarnette            0-3-3

Gorski                     1-0-2

Willoughby South

Hughes                   5-1-15

Williams                 5-2-12

Hopps                     4-3-11

Johnson                 3-0-6

Ruple                      2-0-6

Small                      2-0-5

Huff                        2-0-4

Schoeppler             1-2-4