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PLANO – Scoring in bunches, Kaneland delivered an early knockout punch at Plano on Friday night, overwhelming the Reapers, 75-39.
“We talk a lot about you’re going to get an opponent’s best shot and about trying to come out strong and take the air out of the game a little bit,” Knights coach Ernie Colombe said. “I thought tonight we did that.”
Marshawn Cocroft scored 15 points to lead the Knights. While he was their lone scorer in double figures, 10 of his teammates also scored.
“We just know that every night even though a team might not be the same amount of talent as us we know that they are going to come hard at us every night,” Cocroft said. “We know we can’t look down on them or play down to the competition. We got to come out strong and put them out of the gym early.”
Kaneland (8-1) only led 11-9 after a basket from Vinny Cesario with 2:56 left in the opening quarter.
A free throw from Freddy Hassan, a drive and lay-in from Cocroft, a putback from Evan Frieders and a three-pointer from Preston Popovich turned that lead into a 19-9 one in just 1:16.
Hassan made two more free throws and Isaiah Gipson scored off a turnover to finish the quarter and a 12-0 run.
“We just know that once we get the rebound we need to push the ball because a team won’t be able to keep up with us,” Cocroft said. “We just knew that they don’t get back on defense very well so we kept pushing the ball and looking up to see who was open and just scored layup after layup.”
Plano (5-5) was playing for the third time this week while the Knights had been off since last Friday’s win against Rochelle.
“We had the emotional win (over Ottawa on Tuesday) and the travel on Wednesday (to Marengo for another win) but I don’t if that mattered too much,” Reapers coach Kyle Kee said. “We just wanted to win two of them and I told them that we’re not ready to beat a team like that right now.”
Alan Contreras, who missed the past two games due to illness, led the Reapers with 10 points.
“He’s been sick but he’s a guy who has been coming along,” Kee said. “He’s been coming off the bench as the best point guard we have and he gets us under control. We’re trying to get his shot a little better. When he gets in the lane he can finish around the basket. He had a couple baskets, an and-1 and things like that. He’s definitely a big part of what we do.”
His three-point play to open the second quarter ended Kaneland’s lengthy run.
But that brief respite would be followed by an 11-0 run from Kaneland. Evan Frieders drained a three-pointer with 4:30 remaining before half to finish the run and extend the lead to 34-12.
“We’re trying to get the ball and go,” Colombe said. “It’s not easy for any high school team to score quick. There are a lot of talented teams. Tonight I thought our guys were focused and did that.”
Frieders, Isaiah Gipson and Jeffrey Hassan each scored nine points for the Knights. Popovich added eight points. The Knights bench combined for 32 points. Jeffrey Hassan also had 10 rebounds.
“Our guys have worked really hard during the off-season and if you look at the roster, some of the guys who were role players last year are better than they were last year,” Colombe said. “It’s a nice luxury to have.”
Taron McGowan had nine points for the Reapers.