By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
For the first time since 2009, the Central Bulldogs earned a long-awaited victory over the Kickapoo Chiefs – and the game lived up to the hype.
The Bulldogs outscored the Chiefs 34-18 over the second and third quarters to take a 52-33 lead into the fourth before putting it away for a 60-49 final at Central’s sold-out James Ball Gymnasium in The Pit.
“It was a big win for us,” Central coach Jordan Epps said of Tuesday night’s game. “(Both teams) definitely met a lot for that game. We’re two teams that are going to be fighting for a one seed in district and a conference championship this year, so getting that one tonight means a lot.”
Coming into Tuesday night’s matchup, the Chiefs had won 17 straight games over the Bulldogs, with Central’s last win coming on Jan. 13, 2009. In the previous losses, the Bulldogs never got within 16 points of the Chiefs.
Not only did Central reach one goal by defeating the Chiefs, the Bulldogs also put themselves in the driver’s seat come seeding time for the Class 6 District 5 Tournament in late February. In addition, they are aiming for an Ozark Conference title and Tuesday night’s win was a huge step toward that goal, as they improved to 14-4 overall and 2-0 in the OC.
The Bulldogs jumped out to 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter on back-to-back buckets by junior guard Keion Epps, who led all scorers with 19 points. But the Chiefs fought back to tie it up at 15 before a 3-pointer by Central senior Tyrique Brooks put the Bulldogs up 18-15.
Central ended the second quarter on a 6-0 run on two straight 3-pointers from Epps for a 32-21 Bulldogs advantage. And a 20-point third quarter extended the Central lead to 52-33 going into the fourth.
Kickapoo opened the quarter with four straight points to pull with 15 points, but a thunderous dunk by Brooks, on an assist from Tayshaun Wells, ignited an already raucous crowd that helped celebrate the senior’s 1,500th point of his career.
“It means a lot when you’re making history,” Brooks said. “Just playing with a great program and all of these younger guys coming in; my goal is just to try and be that leader and bring everybody together and make those exciting plays. They do all the hard work, really. (We have) 100 percent chemistry right now – as good as it can be.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
As exciting as Brooks’ dunk was, the technical that followed for hanging on the rim left room for Kickapoo to make a run at the Bulldogs.
Drew Akins hit two free throws for the Chiefs, followed by a 3-pointer from Reese Kimrey and another free throw from Jackson Shorter to pull Kickapoo within 11 points (54-43), while the Bulldogs went almost three minutes without a basket.
“It was definitely a momentum shift,” Coach Epps said. “Any other situation, I probably would have been a little more mad, but (Brooks) knew that was his milestone. He’s been working hard for it, so we let him have his moment. We just took the technical on the chin as a team and just kind of weathered the storm enough, as much as we could.”
The Chiefs hung in the game and worked to chip at the Bulldogs’ lead, getting as close as nine points on a 3 from Shorter late in the game, but it was too little too late.
“I’m proud of our guys for the way they fought and battled,” Kickapoo coach Mitch McHenry said. “We’ve just got to execute and play a little bit smarter. We talked about the same thing after the Battle game (a 51-46 loss on Jan. 26). When you’re playing good teams, and Central is a really good team, you’ve got to execute at a high level; you have to do more than just play hard.
“(Central) can score so effortlessly and they have so many guys that can put the ball in the hole that you’ve really got to do all the little things right. We gave them a couple of second-chance points and they hit a few 3s off some offensive rebounds that you’ve got to try and eliminate with them.”
Kimrey and Akins led the Chiefs with 11 points apiece, and Kimrey added at least eight rebounds on the night.
“We’re asking a sophomore to do a lot for us,” McHenry said. “He’s ready for it. He’s played in big games his freshman year and his sophomore year, and the big thing is we’ve got to continue to get better. Central’s a really good team and they were better than us tonight. We’ve got to work to play our best basketball at the end of the year; that’s the ultimate goal.”
The Bulldogs, who have had a historic season with a Gold Division championship in the Blue and Gold Tournament, and a seventh-place finish in the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions, share that “ultimate goal,” as well, and want to make a deep postseason run.
“We kind of took it personal because of them beating us last year and we wanted that No. 1 seed (in districts),” Keion Epps said. “I don’t think anybody else on the team knew about that (losing streak to Kickapoo) or was worried about that. We were just worried about beating them and proving everybody wrong.
“We’re going to look past (this game) and worry about the next game. And when we see them again in districts, we can’t let up like that. We can’t let them get a run back; we’ve got to keep going.”
“They’re a good team,” Coach Epps said of the Chiefs. “I tip my hat to Coach Mitch and those guys. He has them playing well. I told my guys that it’s not going to be easy. They’re going to make runs; we just have to limit their runs and I thought we did a good job of limiting their runs.”
In the meantime, the Bulldogs will enjoy this big win in their historic arena.
“As you see, it’s amazing to be able to play in front of these fans and sold-out arena,” Coach Epps said. “There’s not many environments like it around this area when it’s sold out. It’s just great. It lived up to the hype and gave them a good game from both teams and put on a show.”
CENTRAL 60, KICKAPOO 49
Ozark Conference game
KICKAPOO 15-6-12-16—49
CENTRAL 18-14-20-8—60
KICKAPOO (17-3 – 4-1) – Shaun Campbell 2, Drew Akins 11, Mason Robb 1, Jackson Shorter 9, Reese Kimrey 11, Jake Sage 6, Brock Thompson 4, Jake Easley 5.
CENTRAL (14-4 – 2-0) – Keion Epps 19, Devon Sanford 12, Tyrique Brooks 14, Tayshaun Wells 8, Bryce Walker 7.
Kickapoo B 48, Central B 41
Kickapoo freshman 66, Central freshman 33
