In the first meeting between Simon Kenton and Walton-Verona since the Bearcats bounced the Pioneers out of the first round of last season’s 32nd District tournament, the Pioneers got some payback in front of an overflowing crowd at Joe Stark Memorial Gymnasium in Independence on Friday night.
“Great atmosphere,” said Simon Kenton Coach Trent Steiner. “It’s what you play for. It’s what you coach for. I appreciate everyone coming out watching us.”
The packed house had an impact on Pioneers junior guard Travis Krohman.
“It’s a great feeling. There’s so much energy out there. Our crowd was incredible. Winning against them is always fantastic,” he said.
Trailing 44-42 with just under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Simon Kenton took control with a 7-0 run on the way to a 53-46 win.
Youngstown State signee Gabe Dynes and Krohman combined to score 23 of the Pioneers’ final 25 points – the other two points coming on a pair of Isaac Gabbard free throws with five seconds remaining. Krohman, the beneficiary of several screens from his teammates, had 15 of those 23.
“Anytime you get a good player like Travis going, that’s good for your team. And it’s good for the kid’s confidence,” Steiner said. “They did a great job chasing him. It’s not the first time he’s seen it. He’s probably going to see it for a little bit longer, till he graduates. I thought his poise, I thought his pace, I thought everything that he did offensively … when he was younger, he would play in a hurry. He was always jostled. Nothing’s jostling
him now. He is a cool character.”
Midway through the third quarter, Walton-Verona led 30-28 before relinquishing the lead for the first time in the game courtesy of a Krohman three-pointer at the 3:20 mark. From that point until 2:19 left in the fourth quarter, there were 12 lead changes as the two teams swapped buckets.
After a hard drive to the hole and layup by Krohman made it 42-41 Simon Kenton, his cousin, Bearcats senior Carter Krohman buried a three to put the visitors back in front for the final time.
“We live on the same driveway. My whole family has gone to (Simon Kenton),” Carter said.
The cousins saw this going a different way when they were younger.
“When we were growing up, we were supposed to be the dynamic duo, but then (Carter) went to Walton. So, that kind of sparked a fire,” Travis said. “Ever since we’ve both been in high school, it’s been a good rivalry.”
The rivalry became a tie game at 44-44 following an alley-oop dunk for Dynes from Pioneers point guard Jay Bilton. Dynes then set a screen at the top of the key for Krohman to pop an elbow jumper. Another screen freed up Krohman to sink a three and give the home team a 49-44 advantage.
The Bearcats got a steal at midcourt resulting in an Aaron Gutman layup to cut the lead to 49-46 with 55 seconds to go, which was followed by the play of the game.
Dynes caught a dime under the basket from Gabbard. The 7-foot-3 Dynes immediately went straight up and threw it down behind his head for a reverse dunk, which drew a foul. Dynes called game.
“It was great momentum,” said Dynes. “It kind of sealed the game even though I missed the free throw. It kind of sealed the game with the energy.”
Travis Krohman had a nice view of the spectacular play.
“That was amazing. It was awesome. It was so energizing,” Krohman said.
Dynes had 17 points on a perfect 8-of-8 shooting to go with 15 rebounds and three blocked shots.
“We had a great game plan coming in,” Walton-Verona Coach Mike Hester said. “I thought we executed and did what we wanted to do. We were able to keep Dynes away from the basket for a while. Then, in the fourth quarter, we started to miss some shots. We made shots early, were able to build a little lead. But the fourth quarter with about 3:40 to go, Travis hit that three down on that end, and we came down and missed. Dynes got that rebound, and that was pretty much the turning point right there for us. We
missed shots down the stretch, and sometimes it happens that way.”
Krohman getting hot late in that third quarter and carrying it over into the fourth was key for Simon Kenton. He scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second half. Krohman finished 9-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Cousin Carter Krohman had a team-high tying 12 points. He entered the game hitting 40 percent from three-point range (50-of-125) but ended up 4-of-16 from three in this one. As a team, Walton-Verona finished 8-of-34 from three for 23 percent.
During that stretch of 12 lead changes, Gutman gave the Bearcats the lead four times, including a rebound and putback as the third-quarter buzzer sounded. He scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
Max Montgomery helped Walton-Verona get off to a good start. His second three-pointer of the first quarter gave the Bearcats a 10-3 lead. Montgomery, Krohman and Zach Smith each hit a three in the second quarter to account for all of the Bearcats scoring in the period. Montgomery and Smith each finished with nine points.
“It was 10-3 at one point, and whenever kids get to feeling like that, they look up at the scoreboard, even if it’s in the first quarter, sometimes they go into a little panic and rush mode,” Steiner said. “They just had to calm down and settle down. I don’t think they could hear a thing I said in the first quarter. But we were able to calm down and gather ourselves.”
Dynes had eight of the Pioneers 14 points in the second quarter, including a putback just before the halftime horn to pull within 24-23 at the break.
Simon Kenton improves to 12-5 overall and 1-0 in district play. The Pioneers face the rest of the district next week with a trip to Williamstown on Tuesday before hosting Grant County on Friday.
Walton-Verona was without starter Julian Dixon, who averages 15 points and nine rebounds per game. Hester said Dixon will be back for the team’s game at Oldham County on Tuesday. Walton-Verona falls to 1-1 in the district and 11-5 overall. The Bearcats beat district foe Williamstown this past Tuesday, 96-75, but won’t complete district play until Feb. 8 when they host Grant County.
