Boys Basketball: Kenwood Closes Out Tough Week With Loss

In a game that Kenwood  fully expected to win, the Bluebirds received all they could handle from Towson on Friday night, as the Generals won a 68-61 game that was close throughout.

Towson (6-15), which had lost nine straight, used a disciplined offense and stellar free throw shooting to pull off the win.The Bluebirds (11-10) never led in the game, and the loss ended a week with three games, all of which were losses.

Kenwood coach Chris Kelly said Towson's great effort from the foul line and the Bluebirds' inconsistent defense were keys in his team's defeat. The Generals converted 18 of 24 free throw attempts, compared to 9 of 21 for Kenwood.

"Towson, give them credit," Kelly said. "They really shot foul shots well down the stretch. For some reason, we wanted to play too far up on the guy instead of playing an arm’s length away, and I don’t know why we did that.”

Towson set the tone early and led 19-14 after the first quarter despite Kenwood's Akeem Echols scoring seven of his team-high 17 in that period.

The second quarter was another back-and-forth frame, with Kenwood again being outscored, 14-13. Towson’s Tim Jaronsinski had nine points in the quarter, which helped Towson lead 33-27 at halftime.

To open the second half, the Bluebirds, led by point guard Travis Jenkins, got off to a quick 7-1 run to tie the score at 34, forcing Towson head coach Tim Gavin to call a timeout with 5:43 left in the quarter.  

After the timeout, the Generals’ Stefan Holmes buried a three-pointer to give the visitors a 37-34 lead, but on the next possession, Jenkins answered with a triple of his own and finished with 14 points in the game. Answering another Towson bucket, Jenkins scored his next two points from the foul line to keep the teams deadlocked, 39-39.

For the final 2:30 of the quarter, Kenwood did not score, as Jaronsinski and Larry Ennels led the Generals on a 7-0 run to end the quarter, with the scoreboard reading 46-39.

 As the Bluebirds continued to fight for a comeback, a more consistent fourth quarter brought them within three points, but Towson’s clutch free throw shooting helped them seal the victory. With the score at 62-58, Echols, who had been dependable all night, putting up 17 points and grabbing a staggering 23 rebounds, missed a contested layup with 4:10 left on the clock.

Kelly then had Kenwood turn up the defensive pressure, which forced four turnovers, but a combination of poor finishing and solid defense from Towson helped the lead remain.

As had been their specialty all night, Jaronsinski and Holmes were dynamite from the foul line, with two Jaronsinski shots clinching the final result with 28 seconds left.

Mike Barnette hit a three-pointer for Kenwood to close the gap to five with 11.1 ticks remaining, but two more Towson free throws gave the visitors the 68-61 win.

Echols cited inconsistency as a big problem for the Bluebirds this season, who have lost five games by eight points or less.

“When we play the best teams, we play up to their level, but when we play less talented teams, we play down to their level," he said.

Jonathan Richardson also played a solid game, scoring nine points and pulling down nine rebounds for Kenwood.

 For Towson, Jaronsinski led all scorers with 19 points, going 9-for-9 from the free throw line, and Holmes was close behind with 15, going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.

 Kenwood stays at home to close out the regular season with a 6:30 p.m. game on Wednesday against Patapsco. This will be Senior Night for the Bluebirds, the final home game for eight seniors on the roster.