BOYS BB: New-look Wildkats take court for public scrimmage
Nov. 13—Kokomo's boys basketball team capped its first week of practice with a Meet the Kats scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gym.
"I thought we had our best practice on Friday, which is always a good thing to end the week on a strong note," Kokomo coach John Peckinpaugh said. "It's going to take some time. We have a lot of new guys coming in that haven't had a lot of varsity playing time. But you saw guys like A'Dayvion Young have a really good scrimmage [Saturday]."
The Kats went 24-5 and finished as Class 4A state runners-up last season. They graduated three starters — guards Shayne Spear, Zavion Bellamy and Patrick Hardimon.
Saturday's scrimmage gave fans a chance to check out the new-look Kats, who have an interesting mix of returning players, transfers and an international student.
The Blue team had Indiana Mr. Basketball candidate and Kansas recruit Flory Bidunga and returning guard Reis Beard, transfers Korbyn Hammel, A.P. Mitchell and Shyy McDonald, and 2022-23 JV players Young and Caleb Taflinger.
The Red team had returning guard Zion Bellamy, returning forward Karson Rogers, transfer Baris Moore, international student Max Feuerle, and 2022-23 JV players Andrew Barker, Tavien Bennett and Buddy Love.
The Blue team won 56-38. Not surprisingly, the returning players on both sides looked good.
"Zion Bellamy looked like his normal self [after an injury last season], Karson Rogers showed flashes of being really, really good, Andrew Barker has continued to improve. And then Reis Beard is Reis Beard and Flory is Flory," Peckinpaugh said.
The newcomers showed potential as well. Hammel (formerly of New Haven) is a point guard, Moore (Taylor) is a guard, Mitchell (Owensboro, Kentucky) is a power forward, McDonald (Bloomington North) is a wing and Feuerle (Germany) is another guard.
"I'm happy with where we are," Peckinpaugh said. "We have to continue to work defensively and improve each week and we'll do those things. Getting all these guys to learn how to play together is going to take some time just because they haven't been out there like our group we had last year. But it will be good in a few months."
The Kats figure to have good competition in practice as Peckinpaugh looks to hone in on a rotation.
"I think we'll play our normal seven-, eight-man rotation and really try to get after people and cause some problems and learn how to compete at a high level," he said.
Kokomo opens with three straight home games — vs. Western (Nov. 21), Westfield (Nov. 25) and Peru (Dec. 1).
The Kats will host the Phil Cox Memorial Tournament on Dec. 22-23. They'll play in the Hall of Fame Classic on Dec. 30 at New Castle.
The schedule shows some new opponents including New Albany, Fishers, New Haven (in the Cox tourney), Crispus Attucks (in the Hall of Fame Classic), Cathedral and Tippecanoe Valley.
Bryan Gaskins is the Tribune's sports editor. He may be reached at bryan.gaskins@kokomotribune.com or 765-454-8567.
