Indy Chronicler

The 2024 version of the Kokomo BobKats sure seems to love playing at famed Memorial Gym on Sunday afternoons.

Two weeks to the day after setting a franchise scoring record by tallying 137 points against Medora, the squad smashed the mark with a convincing 147-130 win over the visiting Cincinnati Warriors in the BobKats’ final game before The Basketball League’s All-Star break.

Kokomo had 10 players in double figures, sparked by Brandon Wood and Tremont Moore with 18 points each. Joseph Burton had 15, Johnny Griffin Jr. 14, Richie Mitchell and Trey Barber 13 apiece, Larry Plummer 12, Trey Mitchell and Akeem Springs 11 apiece and T.J. Henderson 10.

In the opening quarter, the visiting Warriors shot nearly 65% from the field but still trailed Kokomo 32-30 heading into the second quarter. The second 12 minutes saw the two teams swap the lead back and forth 12 times with the score knotted up on four different occasions.

The BobKats took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game when Moore scored inside to put the home team up by one, 42-41 with 6:28 remaining in the half. The Warriors refused to go away, however, cutting the deficit to just two points twice in the remainder of the first half as Kokomo led 64-59 heading into the final 24 minutes.

For as smooth as the first half was for both teams, the second half was a complete reversal as the teams combined for 46 free throws in the second half alone. The BobKats used their balance and dead-eye shooting to move out front to as much as a 21-point cushion (144-123) following Griffin’s hoop inside with just over a minute remaining.

Griffin and Barber spearheaded Kokomo’s 51-28 rebounding advantage with eight caroms apiece. Corey Boyd corralled seven while Moore and Wood had six each. Springs paced the Kats with five assists while Wood had four including a nifty dime leading to a Boyd dunk.

The Warriors were led by Pat White with a game-high 31 points with Coreante Deberry adding 20 and Fred Moore 19.

With the win the Bobkats improved to 7-1 in the TBL Midwest Division while the Warriors fell to 3-5. Following the All-Star weekend, which includes Plummer as the lone selection for the BobKats, the teams will meet again with Cincinnati playing host April 11. Kokomo returns home April 12 against the Medora Timberjacks followed two days later (April 14) with a visit from the Glass City Wranglers.