Lack of defense plagues Kankakee in loss to Rich Township

RICHTON PARK – Going into Rich Township, the Kankakee boys basketball team sought out revenge against their Southland Athletic Conference foes. The Raptors gave the Kays their first conference loss of the season back on Jan. 14, a game that was close from start to end.

On Friday night, it was a different story. Rich Township jumped out of the gates roaring, capturing a 26-9 lead after one quarter and never wavering that strong lead as it defeated Kankakee 79-62.

For Rich Township (17-7, 7-1 Southland Athletic Conference), the win granted it sole possession of first place in the conference. Kankakee (22-5, 10-2 Southland) saw its 10-game win streak snap.

“We did not come in here with a sense of urgency,” Kankakee head coach Chris Pickett said. “We had some guys with some jitters. Everything that we talked about in our game plan, no one executed it.”

Turnovers were a mainstay for the Kays, the team totaled 11 of them Friday night. It’s something that could be attributed to multiple factors, including the aforementioned jitters and the aggressive Raptors defense.

“Rich plays hard,” Pickett said. “They’re going to be aggressive, and if you aren’t being strong with the ball, you aren’t securing the ball, those turnovers are going to happen. You combine that with the fact that there was a lot at stake in this game, and maybe some guys had the jitters, or some of the guys probably did get in the way.

“We just got to do a better job of understanding that we have to have poise in these moments.”

Cedric Terrell III led the Kays with 18 points on the night, including eight in the fourth quarter in an effort to comeback in the game. Terrell has been a spark plug off the bench for Kankakee as of late, the junior has brought energy when the Kays need it most.

“When guys weren’t hitting their shots, I started [to hit mine],” he said. “I came up off the bench and brought the energy and played my game.”

Junior Kenaz Jackson Jr. also chipped in a strong performance in the scoring column for the Kays with 13 points, but overall it was tough sledding for Kankakee’s offense. They scored as many points in the whole first half as Rich Township scored in the first quarter (26).

“Offense was an issue for us in the first half because of shot selection, and those balls were coming off, basically turning into run outs for [Rich Township],” Pickett said.

Kays senior Jordan Davis scored 11 points while teammate junior Lincoln Williams added 10 points. Myair Thompson scored four points for the Kays.

The conclusion of Friday night meant that the Kays’ Southland Athletic Conference regular season has come to an end. Kankakee ends their conference slate with a 10-2 record, which is good enough for second in the conference, at least for now.

Rich Township – sitting at an 8-1 conference record – still has three conference games to go in the regular season. They travel to Thornton Township on Feb. 10, host Crete-Monee on Feb. 14 and Bloom Township on Feb. 18. If the Raptors falter in at least two of those games, the Kays are Southland Athletic Conference champions, but Pickett knows a talented Raptors team is going to be a tough nut to crack.

“We can either finish first or second [in conference],” Pickett said. “We have to leave it up to other teams to beat Rich Township. And honestly, I don’t know how likely that is because they are a really good team.”