COLLINSVILLE -Do Donovan Coates led three Collinsville players in double figures with 19 points, but Howie Keene’s 23 points and Nick Brashear’s 11 points were enough for The Woodlands Christian Academy of suburban Houston to take a 60-57 win over the Kahoks in the quarterfinals of the 40th Collinsville Prairie Farms Holiday Classic Saturday afternoon at Vergil Fletcher Gym.
The Kahoks played well during the game, but the Warriors came up with answers when they needed to, and the Kahoks missed a three-point shot that would have forced overtime just before the final buzzer as TWCA went on to the win to advance to the semifinals later in the evening.
“They’re a very good team,’ said Kahok head coach Darin Lee. “We played well enough to win, a few senseless turnovers in the backcourt hurt us, and getting beat down the floor a couple of times, so some of those plays hurt a little bit. But we played well enough to win, and we had a little bit of offense, but those costly turnovers we had in the third quarter really hurt.”
Every time Collinsville tried to put on a rally, the Warriors came up with some answers that helped their cause.
“They made some shots,” Lee said. “They’re a good team, but we had it hand. We had a chance, we just didn’t get it done. The kids played hard, and we’ve always been tough in this tournament for a long time, and the kids did a lot of things well. We just came up a little short.”
Along with Coates, Jace Wilkinson and Chase Reynolds also hit big shots to help the Kahoks stay in the game.
“Big threes, yeah, they did,” Lee said, “and Donovan Coates played well, too. He did some really good things for us. Like I said, we just came up a little bit short.”
There’s still opportunities for the Kahoks to finish well in the tournament, starting with the fifth place semifinal that was played Saturday evening.
The Kahoks staked out to an early 7-5 lead, thanks to baskets from Stanley Carnahan and Solomon Talbott, along with a three from Wilkinson. and Collinsville ended up taking an 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second, an early three from Trevion Ogburn tied the score at 11-11, and baskets from Keene and Brashear gave the Warriors a 15-11 advantage. Back-to-back threes from Coates helped the Kahoks take a 19-18 lead later on, which was extended to 24-18 on a three by Reynolds and a basket from Evan Wilkinson. Keene later hit a three to make it 24-21, and a pair of free throws prior to halftime from Brashear forged a 25-25 tie at halftime.
Jace Wilkinson and Coates scored at the outset of the third quarter to make it 29-25 for Collinsville, with threes from both Brashear and Ogburn brought TWCA back to a 31-31 deadlock. Both Keene and Tommy Klein hit shots to give the Warriors a 38-35 lead, but Coates helped keep the Kahoks in the game with key baskets, with TWCA holding a 45-41 lead after three quarters.
Keene hit another three to give the Warriors a 48-41 lead at the start of the final quarter, but Coates and Jace Wilkinson threes brought the Kahoks back to a 50-50 tie. The lead went somewhat back-and-forth the remainder of the term, with Keene hitting a basket to give TWCA a 60-57 lead late. Collinsville got the ball on a turnover, and had a chance to tie the game with a three, but the shot was wide, with the buzzer going off to give the Warriors the win 60-57.
Keene led TWCA with 23 points, while Brashear had 11 points, Ogburn had eight points, both Trey Pinkard and Klein had six points each, Landon Harris scored four points, and Jack Krantzck had two points. Coates led the Kahoks with 19 points, while Jace Wilkinson had 14 points, Carnahan scored 10 points. Reynolds and Evan Wilkinson scored five points each, and Talbott hit for four points.
The Warriors went to 14-5 with the win, and faced Belleville East in the semifinals, while the Kahoks are now 7-5, and played Lincoln, who lost to the Lancers, in the fifth-place semifinals.
In the game between East and the Railsplitters, the Lancers jumped to a 30-8 second quarter lead, and went on to a 62-36 win over Lincoln to move on to the semifinals.
