STERLING –– A red hot first half and a dominate inside effort in the third quarter by Sterling Newman proved too much for Kewanee to overcome Friday night, as the Comets topped the Boilers 89-70.
It was a rapid fire first quarter, in which the teams combined for seven threes.
A T.J Jackson putback late in the frame, gave Kewanee (7-11) its only lead of the game, 21-20.
Newman (17-2) continued its hot shooting and opened the second period with an 11-0 jolt, including three treys, two by Gehrig Koerner, and expanded the gap to 35-23.
A Trenton Terry layup, followed by a Kavon Russell three-point play, cut the deficit to seven for the Boilers.
Newman responded with a 7-0 spurt to get the lead back to double digits, where it would remain for the rest of the contest.
Newman found the bottom of the net on 53 percent of its shots in the opening half, including 8 of 13 from beyond the arc. Koerner drilled four of the treys himself, and finished the game with five triples in total, and 16 points.
“That was the difference in the game,” Lewis said. “Coach Sharp told me in the handshake line ‘we haven’t shot that well forever.’ Number three (Koerner) got red hot. He’s not averaging much, we didn’t have much on the scouting report, but he came out ready to play and made a lot of big time threes in the first half.”
The Boilers tightened up on the perimeter in the third, and held Newman scoreless from behind the three-point line.
But when Kewanee post Carson Sauer picked up his fourth foul with more than five minutes left in the third quarter, that’s when Newman forward Devon House went to work.
The sophomore scored nine of his game-high 26 points in the third. The Comets held a 12-7 rebound advantage in the period, eight of which were offensive boards.
“Between the threes and getting outrebounded was the difference in the game,” said Lewis. “But I’m extremely proud of the effort. We came here ready to play and ready to play hard. We got beat by a team that’s red hot and really good right now.”
The Boilers hung around, as Steven Earthely and Trenton Terry drilled back-to-back threes late in the quarter, and the Comets lead was 13 after three.
Kewanee drew to within 11 early in the fourth, but a 9-0 Comets’ dash put the game out of reach.
Russell topped Kewanee with 20 points. Earthely (14), Terry (11) and Sauer (10) were also in double figures.
The Comets finished above 50 percent from the field and 10 of 19 from deep.
The Boilers finished at a very respectable 45 percent from the field. Newman held a 39-27 rebounding edge, led by House's 12 boards. Sauer hauled down nine rebounds for Kewanee.
Brycen Bartel added a dozen for Newman, Cade Gorzny added 11 and Travis Williams finished with 10, as five Comets reached double figures.
Kewanee won the fresh/soph game 64-33. Three Riveters were in double figures led by Logan Zarvell with 13, Xavier Crowe with 12 and Tristan Parks with 11.
The highlight of the game came in the final minute when sophomore Gage Williams scored his first basket of the season for the Riveters.
Kewanee boys game location, time changed for Saturday, Jan. 13
The Kewanee at Peoria Quest boys game scheduled for tonight will be played at Illinois Central College. Tip off has been changed from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.