Change of Pace Gives Kennedy Easy Victory Over Taft, 64-47

Which position does he play? What about his Kennedy High teammates? Is there any distinction between front-court players and those in the backcourt?

Are these guys clones?

“I’m an all-around guy,” Ronnie Gipson said. “I play everywhere. I’m a utility player.”

Kennedy, which has many players who fit that description, used a slew of players in the 6-foot-2 range to run Taft off the floor, 64-47, in a North Valley League game Wednesday at Taft.

Gipson (19 points) and Joe Wyatt (20) in particular ravaged Taft, and the Golden Cougars walked away with a remarkably easy victory. Chalk it up to a Kennedy offense that, more often than not, looks like five guards in a passing drill.

“Everybody plays everywhere,” Coach Yutaka Shimizu said. “We basically have five guards out there.”

Kennedy (14-6, 3-2 in league play) slowed the tempo from the opening tip and held a 6-4 lead after one quarter. This was surely a team that was dictating the pace, one point at a time.

“We wanted to take away the fast-paced game, spread the floor and use our quickness,” Shimizu said.

Mission accomplished. Kennedy marched to a 25-15 lead at halftime and poured on the points in the fourth quarter. Taft Coach Jim Woodard was expecting a full-court press and man-to-man defense from Shimizu and was 0 for 2.

“Shim is a shrewd dude,” Woodard said.

Kennedy held a 41-29 lead after three quarters and buried Taft (12-4, 4-1) with a near-perfect run to open the fourth.

Kennedy made five of its first six shots from the field and made five of six free throws to take a 56-40 lead with 4 minutes 27 seconds to play.

With Taft pressing to make a comeback, the floor opened up for Wyatt, a 6-3 junior who scored 14 points over the final eight minutes. Wyatt also was perfect on six free throws in the quarter and made all eight he attempted in the game.

“We just try to work it inside and play smart,” Wyatt said. “We don’t rush our passes and we don’t take bad shots.”

Facing Kennedy’s match-up zone, Taft made 19 of 56 shots from the field (34%) as perimeter gunners Casey Sheahan (16 points) and Miguel Carrillo (six) faced continual harassment.

“That’s the best defense we played all season,” Shimizu said.

And, perhaps, Kennedy’s best display of offensive execution.

“We wanted to come in here and prove that we were better than 2-2 in league play,” Gipson said. “We still think we can win it.”