Basketball Recap: Baris Moore Leads a Balanced Attack to Beat Merrillville

After losing to Merrillville the last time they met, Kokomo decided to demonstrate that turnabout is fair play. The Kokomo Wildkats enjoyed a cozy 80-63 win over the Merrillville Pirates on Saturday. Given the Wildkats' advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 52nd, while the Pirates are ranked 223rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Kokomo's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Baris Moore led the charge by going 6 for 11 on his way to 19 points and three steals. The dominant performance gave Moore a new career-high in points. Korbyn Hammel was another key player, dropping a double-double on 18 points and ten rebounds.

Josiah Jones and Charles Hardiman certainly did their best on Saturday to avoid the loss. Jones went 8 of 10 on his way to 18 points, while Hardiman went 8 of 20 on his way to 23 points and five boards. That was a full 36.5% of Merrillville's points, marking the third time in a row he's posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Kelvion Brown, who had five points along with 11 boards and five assists.

The victory made it two in a row for Kokomo and bumps their season record up to 7-2. As for Merrillville, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-6 record this season.

Kokomo didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 76-71 win against Warren Central on the 28th. As for Merrillville, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 77-54 defeat against South Bend Washington on the 2nd.