Poughkeepsie snaps Kingston boys’ win streak
Poughkeepsie handed Kingston High’s boys basketball team only its second loss of the year Saturday night.
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Poughkeepsie handed Kingston High’s boys basketball team only its second loss of the year Saturday night, rallying and hanging on to win a wild 64-60 affair.
The Pioneers, down 14 in the first quarter, shut down the Tigers for nearly 11 minutes to battle back.
Kingston, which had a sixgame winning streak snapped, was trailing by 13 with a minute left to play when it made its final push.
Brian Moore hit a 3-point field goal from the right wing with 17 seconds left to cut it to 62-59. Brady Short sank the back end of a two-shot foul to make it a 2-point game.
Moore tossed up an off-balance trey with 1.6 seconds to go, but he had been ruled to have stepped out of bounds in the back court. Davontry Thomas then sank two foul shots with a second left to clinch the win.
“We played a good first quarter. We fought our tails off to find a way to get ourselves back in it and they had a chance in a game that they were better than us today,” Kingston coach Ron Kelder said.
“I told these kids that I can’t be more proud of them. We were
down 14 and were able to get it down to a two-point game with the ball,” he said. “This has to make us better. Every non-league game we’ve played have been tough games.”
Thomas had 22, Niyel Goins 15 and Jayquan Pearson 13 to lead Poughkeepsie (8-3).
Moore, who also had 3 assists, finished with 21 points for the Tigers. Jimmy Moot (12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), Daivel Jackson (9 points, 7 rebounds) and Shy’quan Royal (7 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) also had big games for Kingston (11-2)
The Tigers executed perfectly in the first quarter to build a 21-7 advantage. Poughkeepsie responded with physical play on the perimeter and a solid outing on the glass to stage its comeback. That led to a nightmarish 10:53 stretch for Kingston from late in the first quarter to early in the third when the Tigers managed just two points on free throws.
Kingston’s defense kept it in the game and when, after 22 failed possessions, Jackson scored on a layup, the Tigers were down only 33-25.
Poughkeepsie, which lost to Kingston by 5 at home two weeks ago, made 22 of 34 foul shots. The Tigers were 11-for-20 at the stripe.
“They made their free throws, they hurt us on the offensive glass. Last game, they missed some free throws and we made ours,” Kelder noted. “It’s two pretty similar teams. The only difference is that it takes us a little running start to figure out how hard we got to play around the rim. Our spacing was so good in the first half that it kept them off-guard and we were finishing.
“They made it more physical around the perimeter and forced us into more congested situations,” Kelder explained. “Hey, they did a good job out there. They did a great job of making the adjustments and being physical with us. That physicality bothered us for a little while during that stretch in the middle and then we got tougher again.”
The Tigers’ star guards came away a little banged up. Royal twisted his ankle while passing on a baseline drive with 4:56 left, but returned two minutes later. Moments after Royal re-entered, Moore hurt his right shoulder on a drive. He remained in the game.
Kingston has time to heal. The Tigers are home again next Sunday, Jan. 20, to take on Troy (9-1) in another big test. The junior varsity play at 1 p.m, followed by the varsity at 3.
“The fun part of coaching this game today was we got better as the game went on. They continued to fight and compete,” Kelder said. “You can’t ask more from a group of kids than the effort they gave me today. As a coach, you’re proud of not putting your head down, not giving up and putting that effort out.”