BENTON, Mo. — Unleashing a full-court man-to-man defense, Charleston drowned Kelly in turnovers and secured a 62-52 win at KHS on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
Solidifying their district dominance, the Blue Jays (8-4) forced 16 turnovers and edged the Hawks (10-2) for the second time in two weeks. However, with a possible playoff matchup looming down the road, this heated rivalry might just be getting started.
“I’m very pleased with how we played tonight — especially after coming out and having a tough performance against Notre Dame,” said Charleston coach Jamarcus Williams. “Kelly is a tough place to win because they always play well at home. We knew it would be a dogfight and we would have to fight through adversity.”
Kelly charged out of the gate, taking a 7-2 advantage with Reece Eftink and Dalton Forck powering inside for strong buckets. Charleston weathered the storm and took its first lead, 9-8, with 1:37 left in the first quarter after Ko’Terrion Owens’ trip to the charity stripe.
Back-and-forth play in the second quarter saw Kelly retake the lead on Ross Peters’ free throws, but Tayshon Clark’s layup put Charleston back ahead.
A defensive clampdown and bursts of athleticism helped the Blue Jays build an eight-point advantage late in the second quarter.
“We are starting to improve our man defense,” Williams said. “At the beginning of the season, it wasn’t strong enough to be successful on most nights. But it worked out well for us tonight. We like to be able to speed teams up. We want to be able to play man defense under control while playing fast. We just want to get them playing faster than what they are comfortable with.”
Fueled by Peters’ late heroics - two free throws, a game-changing steal, and a miraculous buzzer-beater from just inside halfcourt - Kelly clawed back to within three points, 24-21, at halftime.
“[Peters] works extremely hard and is one of our team leaders,” said Kelly coach Noel Trimmer. “He’s playing off the charts good.”
A strong start to the second half saw Kelly briefly lead 31-30 after Cannon Kirkpatrick’s floater. However, Charleston countered with a Treshaun Schandon triple and a layup by Owens to push back ahead 35-33.
Charleston maintained control for the remainder of the game despite a late corner 3-pointer from Peters that narrowed the lead to 51-50 with 3:08 left in the game.
However, the Blue Jays had an answer in Deshaun Henderson, who scored inside on the next two Charleston possessions to extend the lead to 55-50 with about a minute left in the game.
“That’s expected,” Williams said. That’s why he’s out there and that’s him doing their job. Henderson is a presence in the paint and he knows how to hold his own down there.”
Charleston found its groove late, closing the game with a dominant stretch that extended the lead to double digits for the first time.
“The way we closed it out was great despite having a few defensive breakdowns,” Williams said. “The full-court-man defense is new to this group. Our varsity experience is still very limited but the fact that we were able to score, get stops and make free throws in that final minute was impressive.”
Charleston slammed the door, leaving behind a tantalizing prospect: a district tournament rematch where these rivals could lock horns once more.
“We were right there with three minutes to go but we couldn’t finish and made a lot of small mental errors,” Trimmer said. “You can’t do that against a team that knows how to win. This might not be the typical Charleston team but they still know how to and expect to win. You can’t allow a team like that to get second, third and fourth opportunities. They’ll punish you if you let them do that.”
Both teams turn around and face huge tests.
Charleston to travel to Class 5, No. 1 Sikeston (11-0) on Friday, Jan. 5, while Kelly is on the road at Woodland (9-1) on Friday, Jan. 5.
__CHARLESTON 62, KELLY 52__
Charleston 12 11 17 22 — 62
Kelly 11 10 16 15 — 52
Charleston (62) — Tayhson Clark 18, Ko’Terrion Owens 13, Gorvarion Johnson 8, Owen Willis 8, Deshaun Henderson 8, Zachyran Thomas 4, Treshaun Schandon 3. FG: 24. FT: 10-14. F: 17. (3-pointers: Johnson 2, Clark 1, Schandon 1. Fouled out: None).
Kelly (52) — Ross Peters 26, Reese Eftink 11, Dalton Forck 7, Cannon Kirkpatrick 6, Michael Dollins 2. FG: 19. FT: 11-21. F: 19. (3-pointers: Peters 3. Fouled out: None).
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