LYNN — In an impressive showing for the KIPP Academy boys basketball team, the Panthers treated their home fans to a 52-25 win over the visiting Excel Wolves on Tuesday night.
The Panthers stormed out to an early lead and never looked back, closing their victory by out-scoring the Wolves 26-17 in the second half. With the win, the Panthers remain undefeated on the season at 6-0.
Leading the way for the Panthers was first-year starter Abdoul Barry, who scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Barry provided a strong presence in the paint, one that was tough for Excel to defend.
KIPP’s Dominic Jette added nine points with four rebounds, Wallace Reed tallied eight points and Tona Puati finished with seven points in the winning effort. All three of them starred on KIPP’s football team this past fall season.
“Dominic’s a four-year player and he works hard,” KIPP first-year coach David White said. “He’s a leader for us. Abdoul’s a first-year starter but he has good length and good instincts. It just comes down to working on the fundamentals with these guys. They’re two of our leading scorers and I expect that continue.”
Jette took command of the game in the opening minutes of the first half. He scored seven of KIPP’s first nine points on a pair of buckets and a 3-pointer. The Panthers led 9-0 before the Wolves found the scoreboard on a 3-pointer of their own. KIPP featured five different scorers in the first half and led 26-8 at recess.
“We try to establish fast starts,” White said. “The first couple of games, we started slow. It’s a new system for these players. I’m their third coach in three years. It’s a work in progress for all of us. We’re trying to start fast and play with fundamentals. It’s a work in progress but we’re definitely trying to start games fast and keep our foot on the gas.”
The Panthers didn’t lose momentum in the second half, as they continued to pour it on and keep the Wolves on their heels. Abdoul Barry took control of the post with three baskets in the paint, bumping the lead to 37-11. KIPP’s lead reached the 30’s when a bucket from Algha Barry (six points, five rebounds) put the Panthers ahead 43-13 with 9:00 remaining. From there, the win was well in the bag and the KIPP substitutes closed out the 52-25 victory.
“It’s good that we came out with energy and didn’t take our foot off the gas in the second half,” White said. “It allows our younger guys to get some valuable playing time and it allows our older guys to get some rest. We have a big game coming up on Friday so it was nice to get them some rest.”
The Panthers are back on the court on Friday night (8:30) when they visit Cambridge Charter at MIT.
“We haven’t been tested yet,” White said. “We’ll have a big test on Friday night on the road. We’ll be tested then. Cambridge has a couple good players. We’re 6-0 and we’ll take the wins, but it’s about how we’re building off those wins. We’re trying to establish a championship culture and stress the importance of the little things.”
