CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Kenwood boys basketball took down West Creek Friday at home 68-54, punching its ticket to the District 10-AAA semifinals and region tournament.
Knight senior James “Scooter” Williams gave his thoughts on his team’s overall performance after the game.
“A lot of guys stepped up and made big-time shots in big moments,” Williams said. I think at the end we executed at a high level. It feels good to go out and get this win, knowing we got put out last year in the first round. Now we have a lot of confidence going into tomorrow.”
Williams put on a passing clinic against the Coyotes, piling up assists and creating open looks throughout for his teammates.
Because of his vast skill set in many other areas, Kenwood boys basketball coach Jason James agreed that Williams’s ability to be an effective distributor may be underrated at times.
“He sees the floor a lot better than what maybe people give him credit for,” James said. “I think his feel for how to play is really good. He understands the game, knows where the ball needs to go and does a great job of getting it there.”
Williams also impacted a number of Coyote shots throughout, making it difficult for West Creek to generate scoring. The guard put on full display why he is considered one of the best two-way players in the area.
“It’s great to do it in front of the home crowd,” Williams said. “There was a lot of love and support and it’s nice to have that positive energy around especially coming from my teammates.”
Kenwood’s Kevin McIntosh shouldered most of the scoring load in the first half, tallying 11 points at the break. The senior guard was able to get to the rim and knock down multiple jump shots before getting into foul trouble early on in the third quarter.
“He was attacking and confident with the ball,” James said. “He wasn’t passive and was getting to the right spots. I thought he played fine. With him and everybody else it’s just about being more consistent.”
West Creek’s Kamarie Coffey was held without a point in the second quarter and had some trouble getting going offensively for the majority of the contest. A player such as Coffey’s caliber garners an immense amount of attention from defenses and the Knights accounted for him at all times.
“We wanted to limit his touches,” James said. “We wanted to make everything hard on him. He’s a really good player and hard to guard especially when he’s in the rhythm of the game. We tried to make him uncomfortable and I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job of that.”
Coffey went 5-of-7 from the foul line and led the Coyotes with 15 points. Sean Lafortune also finished in double figures with 10 points.
Williams had a game-high 22 points while Jaylen Washington added nine points and Zak Kramer tallied eight points for the Knights.
Kenwood will face off against Northeast at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Springfield High.
Both previous meetings between the two teams this season have been tightly contested with just 10 total points deciding the eventual outcomes.
“We have to get better,” James said of his team. “We have to make sure we’re ready to play tomorrow. It’s playoff basketball so there isn’t a lot of time to prepare. The intensity will be way up and we have to make sure that we’re on it. We have to be ready for 32 minutes no matter what they throw at us.”