Kelloggsville showed up at the Hopkins gym Friday night with just six players in uniform, but put up a brave fight in a 78-59 verdict.
It was the Vikings’ eighth straight victory and they are 10 for 11 since the Christmas break, taking over sole possession of first place in the O-K Silver Conference with an 8-1 record.
Coach Jake Jewett wasted no time in trying to exploit the Rockets’ lack of numbers by throwing out a full-court press. The strategy worked quite well, as his players were able to pick up steals for easy layups on occasion, a much easier task than facing a reasonably effective zone.
Hopkins shout out to an 18-6 advantage in the first eight minutes, but they let Kelloggsville back into the ballgame in the second period, being outscored 21-16. With a 34-37 lead at intermission, the Vikings came out working hard again on the full-court pressure and extended their lead to 59-43 at the end of three.
Junior guard Colin Weber was the ringleader of the easy baskets from the press and he finished the contest with 21 points. However. It was Joe Zomerli who did a lot of damage outside against the zone with some threes, and he led all scorers with 26 points.
The Rockets were able to get as close as a dozen in the final period, but junior forward Drew Weber answered with a three-point play and a layup to put things out of reach again. Drew Weber finished with 15 points and he and Colin did the bulk of the rebounding.
Sophomore forward Cameron Mosley led Kelloggsville with 21 points, Jay Johnson nailed several threes to finish with 16 and star guard Corey Patton-Ivey was held to 13.
“Again, we used our size inside well and finished strong at the rim,” Jewett commented. “Defensively, we held K-ville’s top scorer, Corey Patton-Ivey, in check.”
The Vikings, now 12-4 overall, play next at Wyoming Lee Tuesday.
COVER PHOTO: Inducted into the Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame were William Weick, Danny Miller, Don Walker and Brandie Merren-Sisson during a ceremony between the girls and boys’ games Friday evening.
