PERRYVILLE — While acknowledging that it does not show in their record, coach Vontrell Coles said the one-win Trojans head into postseason playing their best basketball.
No. 6 seed Kent County travels to No. 3 seed Perryville (10-9) tomorrow for a first-round game in the Class 1A East Region tournament. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.
Coles said KCHS (1-18) could be the sleeper in the six-team 1A East.
“I believe we can surprise someone,” he told The Evening Enterprise in a telephone interview Wednesday.
“We’re playing with heart,” he said. “We’ve got to learn to finish.”
The Trojans closed out the regular season Feb. 20 with a 48-41 loss at St. Michaels. They were up by six points with about four minutes to play when one of their top players fouled out, and they just couldn’t keep it all together, Coles said.
The day before, in its last home game of the season, Kent County lost another close one, 67-62 to North Dorchester.
Thomas Moore put back a teammate’s miss at the buzzer to give the locals a 16-13 lead after one quarter.
They took their largest lead of the night at 22-17 on a pair of Kiyan Hynson free throws with 5 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
North Dorchester closed the half on a 15-7 run to surge ahead, 32-29.
But, the resilient Trojans regained the lead at 38-36 and carried a 50-46 lead into the final frame after Elijah Wilson buried a 3-pointer with his back to his bench on the final shot of the third quarter.
KCHS still led by four points at 55-51 on a Gavin Miller trey with 4:44 remaining, before North Dorchester (4-16) asserted itself by scoring the next 10 points.
The Eagles tied it up at 55 on a Parker Ridenour layup at the 4-minute mark, and regained the lead for good at 58-55 on Mir McKoy’s traditional three-point play with 3:06 showing on the clock.
North Dorchester took its largest lead of the evening at 66-57 with 45.1 seconds to play when McKoy hit the back end of a two-shot foul to punctuate a decisive 5-0 run.
McKoy with 11 points was one of four Eagles to score in double figures, joining Jayden Turner with 16 points and Ridenour and Tyrone Smith with 14 points apiece.
Kent County senior Tyrie Wright, who is on the mend after missing a big chunk of the season with an injury, led all players with 17 points.
Jayden Miller [13 points] and Hynson [10 points] also scored in double figures.
Gavin Miller scored eight points.
Wilson added seven points, all in the second half.
Moore, Chase Dolgos and DeAndre Sisco made up the balance for the Trojans.
As the down-to-the-wire losses to North Dorchester and St. Michaels demonstrated, KCHS has been able to compete “but our biggest problem is learning to finish,” coach Coles said.
That was apparent from the get-go as KCHS lost its season opener to Washington, 75-74, on a free throw with 2 seconds to play.
“In the beginning of the season, we were adjusting to ‘newness,'” said first-year head coach Coles.
Now, he said, “we’re playing with heart … believing in each other and trusting our coaches.”
Junior Jayden Miller has stepped up as the leader on the court.
To deepen the Trojans’ bench as they head to the playoffs, Coles has called up junior varsity players Thomas Cunningham, Paul Roberts, Ki’Tray Jackson and Finn Dierker.
The projected starting five for tomorrow’s game at Perryville are Jayden Miller, Wright, Zayvion Brown, Dolgos and Wilson.
Hynson and Moore will be the first players to sub in.
No. 1 seed Colonel Richardson (19-1) and No. 2 seed Bo Manor (11-9) receive first-round byes.
St. Michaels (6-13) is the No. 4 seed and will host North Dorchester in tomorrow’s other first-round game.
Colonel awaits the winner of St. Michaels-North Dorchester, while Bo Manor will host the winner of Perryville-Kent in the other region semifinal on Monday, March 2.
