Despite bumpy start, Bryan Station boys’ basketball showing promise
It’s been an up-and-down start in Champ Ligon Jr.’s first season back as head coach of the Bryan Station’s boys’ basketball team after more than a decade away.
But Tuesday night counted as an up.
The Defenders (5-6) scored 33 points in the fourth quarter at Henry Clay — nearly matching their total over the previous three frames — as they topped the Blue Devils 68-54 and avenged their 42nd District loss to them earlier this season.
The outburst offered a glimpse of the potential Ligon sees in the Defenders.
“We’ve been a work in progress, but I’ve got tremendous kids, man,” Ligon said. “We’ve been competing in every game. … We just really don’t know how to win yet. We’re still learning that, and tonight, obviously, we took a big step because we did a lot of really good things.”
That included making 10 of their 13 field goals (76.9%) and 11 of their 15 free throws in the fourth quarter. Senior guard J’Marious Lindsay led the way with 23 points.
“We just came out and played as a team — 100 percent — gave all-out energy,” Lindsay said. “It just clicked, and we got a win.”
Bryan Station topped another district rival, Frederick Douglass, by 19 on Dec. 3 but lost three of its first four games by double digits. It rebounded by winning three of its next four games, including a 67-61 victory over district rival Scott County.
Then, Bryan Station’s game against No. 10 Warren Central, an 86-72 loss, showed the whole package — good and bad.
“We got down 23, came all the way back and tied it up and then couldn’t buy layups after that,” Ligon said.
On Tuesday, Bryan Station held a 19-18 lead over Henry Clay (11-3), but had to feel like it let an opportunity for more slip away. The Defenders shot just 23.8% from the field in the first two quarters, missing a number of layups on break opportunities generated by their full-court press. They also went 1-for-9 from three-point range.
“We had a chance to really to maybe get a 10-11 point lead, and then when you don’t take advantage of that sometimes that’ll come back and bite you,” Ligon said.
That looked to be the case in the third quarter as a depleted Henry Clay team found its rhythm despite playing without leading scorer Aziel Blackwell, who fell victim to a non-COVID-19 bug that swept through much of the roster over the last week.
The Blue Devils went up by as many as nine points, 38-29, after Michael Hawkins’ three-pointer capped a 20-10 Henry Clay run that included three three-pointers from fellow guard Konlin Brown.
But Station’s defense helped retake the momentum as a Lindsay steal and a Jaden Biggers block helped the Defenders trim the deficit to 38-35 by the end of the third. The Defenders scrap in both their full-court press and half-court zone defense. They got 13 steals, four blocks and forced 25 Henry Clay turnovers.
The Defenders outscored Henry Clay 33-16 in the fourth.
“At halftime, Coach said use pump fakes because they were just jumping everything,” Lindsay said. “We just slowed down, hit pump fakes and as they were jumping, we were just getting layups.”
Lindsay (15.3 ppg) leads four players averaging double figures in scoring. The team has been bolstered by the addition this season of transfer Bless Kamuena (11.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg), a 6-foot-6 forward from Beardstown, Ill., and Trenton Cutwright (13.9 ppg), a 6-foot-1 sophomore who has added basketball to his sports resume in addition to baseball and his role as starting quarterback for the football team. Biggers (10.2 ppg), a 6-6 junior, gives them another solid defender and scoring threat. Jaden Green, a 6-1 junior, averages 9.9 points per game.
LIndsay said he believes his team can contend in the district and region tournaments.
“I’m very confident in my team,” Lindsay said. “We’re still coming together. We just have to get more practices. We’re just going to keep getting better and better.”
Ligon built Bryan Station into one of the top teams in the state during his first stint as head coach from 2002 to 2010, notably coaching future-NBA player Shelvin Mack along the way.
“We still have the same vision. We want all the kids to be successful in school and get into college,” Ligon said. “If you look at all my old players from my first stint, they’ve all got good jobs, great families. I couldn’t be more proud of them. And I want to give that same type of love and guidance and family atmosphere to this next generation.”
