By Dominic Scianna
In one of the more entertaining games of this boys Illinois High School Association (IHSA) basketball season, Kenwood Academy withstood a flurry of three-point baskets to edge host New Trier 69-66 on January 20 in the City/Suburban Deep Dish MLK Classic.
Broncos senior Chris Watkins’ three-point field goal with 18 seconds remaining was the difference in the game as Kenwood quieted a boisterous New Trier home-court crowd in an afternoon clash on Martin Luther King Day.
Kenwood (20-1) had its hands full most of the afternoon with the “let it fly” three-point barrage from New Trier juniors Christopher Kirkpatrick (game-high 26 points, 3 three-pointers) and to go with teammate Danny Houlihan (25 points on 7 three-pointers).
“We trust each other and when I saw Chris open in the corner (with Kenwood down 66-64) I’m going to give it to him,” said senior Aleks Alston. “I knew in that moment that he would be ready, He works hard in practice and is one of our team leaders and senior captains.”
New Trier (16-6) led for most of the game buoyed by a frenzied fan base on their home court. Leads of 36-27 at the half and 50-46 after three quarters kept Kenwood at bay but the the Broncos kept chipping away with a calm and steady flow as has been their mantra all season long. The Broncos would end up out-scoring the Trevians 23-16 in the fourth and deciding quarter.
“Down the stretch, we were trying to figure out how to stop their scorers (Kirkpatrick and Houlihan) and we locked in defensively closing out on those guys,” said Kenwood first-year coach Joe Mason. “We also hit some big shots late in the game. We talked at halftime down nine about how we just needed to continue to play together to turn things around and fight like we’ve been doing all season and the outcome will be on our side.”
The winning three-point basket was set up by Kenwood defensive stops and key rebounds to set up the wild finish. A three-point effort by Kirkpatrick in the closing moments fell short and gave the Broncos the victory.
“They were very active on the boards and that hurt us,” said Trevians coach Scott Fricke. “We couldn’t get a big rebound late in the game and Kenwood made the plays they need to for the win. It was a tough ending for us.”
Kenwood had four players in double figures led by point guard Amari Edwards’ 18 points, to go with Alston’s 15 points and six rebounds, T.J. Seals 14 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore Devin Cleveland, who chipped in with 14 points. But, the star of the night was Watkins with eight points.
“It shows how our team is coming together,” said Mason. “And our guy Chris Watkins in a playoff type atmosphere hit the big shot – but that’s Chris for you. I knew he was going to knock it down.”
Photos by Sydney Gaietto, Amundsen senior (IG: snapshots.bysid)
