No holiday hangover: Canton McKinley boys basketball sharp in Federal League win vs. Green

CANTON — Thirteen days had passed since the Canton McKinley boys basketball team's last game when the Bulldogs took the floor Friday night at Memorial Field House.

No hint of a holiday hangover ever appeared.

McKinley grabbed control early and hung on for a 58-55 win against Green in a key battle of the Federal League's two Bulldogs.

Reed Sims Jr. blocked a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer from Lucas Bitong to preserve the win for McKinley (6-2, 5-0), keeping the host Bulldogs alone in first place in the league.

Meanwhile, Green (6-2, 3-2) falls into a third-place tie with Jackson (7-3, 3-2) in the league standings, with GlenOak (7-1, 4-1) alone in second place.

McKinley head coach Sean Weatherspoon used the break of almost two full weeks to work on some things his Bulldogs had struggled with through their first seven games.

It certainly worked. McKinley never trailed Friday in denying Green head coach Mark Kinsley his 400th career win.

"We definitely got better," Weatherspoon said. "We went to work. We got some conditioning in, and it definitely showed tonight. We were pushing the ball and playing at a high level."

No one moreso than Sims. The 6-foot-5 junior scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range, to continue his strong season. He added four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

"Reed is buying in on both ends of the floor," Weatherspoon said. "He's taking coaching and working his butt off in practice. As long as he continues to do that, he's going to be good. I'm proud of that kid."

Sims' smart, efficient play mirrored that of his teammates, who patiently worked for good shots most of the night en route to shooting 53.7% from the floor as a team.

"Our coach always tells us before the game, 'Trust your teammates,'" Sims said. "That's a big thing we talk about in the locker room."

Junior guard Jaylen Jeter scored a season-high 16 points, including six big points in the final five minutes to help McKinley hold off Green. Jeter is working his way back from missing some time with an injury.

"If he can play at that level and be another threat offensively, play great defense on the ball, push the ball, we're that much better," Weatherspoon said.

McKinley led 18-10 after one quarter and by as many as 15 in the second quarter before Green started to swing momentum.

Junior guard Antonio Martin scored 14 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to key Green's comeback efforts. Senior Brady Rollyson added 15 points and six rebounds.

"First quarter," Kinsley said, ruing the hole his team buried itself in. "They played harder and were tougher in that first quarter. You just cannot go on the road and spot a team the quality of McKinley a double-digit lead."

Luke Jansen totaled nine points and five rebounds for Green, which missed all six of its 3-point tries in the first quarter and finished 1-for-11 from deep. Fellow senior Jarrett Taylor added seven rebounds and three steals. McKinley's defensive pressure didn't turn Green over, but it definitely sped up the team in orange.

With the help of McKinley cooling off a bit, Green clawed back to tie the score 39-39 late in the third quarter.

After Green committed a turnover to give McKinley the ball under its own basket with eight-tenths of a second left, Sims made the visitors pay with a catch-and-shoot 3 at the buzzer that had the hosts right back in the lead.

"I knew I was going to hit that," Sims said. "Coach called the play for me. That was a big shot."

Eight minutes later, he was coming up with a big block, swatting away Bitong's look from the deep right wing after Green had swung the ball around the perimeter.

Said Sims, "We worked hard as a team to get this win."

Sophomore point guard Davey Thompson scored nine points and played a solid all-around game for McKinley, which finishes the first half of league play on Tuesday by hosting Jackson. Junior Keith Quincy grabbed six rebounds off the bench, including a key defensive board in traffic in the final minutes.

Kinsley kind of chuckled about McKinley, observing, "You wouldn't have known they were off for two weeks."

Reach Josh at josh.weir@cantonrep.com 

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio high school boys basketball: Canton McKinley tops Green