Kilpatrick Takes VI-A Crown
March 5, 2010
Jack Pollon
The Kilpatrick of Malibu boys’ basketball team did not have most of the players it started the season with back in November but it wasn’t an obstacle at all for the Mustangs in a 65-41 victory against West Valley Christian of West Hills in the Southern Section Div. 6-A championship game at Colony High of Ontario.
While several players came and went through the first 24 games, seven players led by Michael Foster, earned the distinction of being on the first ever championship team in the juvenile detention center’s history.
The 2001 team led by former Dominguez of Compton star Keilon Fortune lost to a Tim Drisdom-led Calvary Chapel of Downey team at the Arrowhead Pond (now called the Honda Center).
“It is a big accomplishment,” Foster said. “We stayed focused on basketball and won a championship.”
Foster, who played at Grant of Van Nuys last year had 18 points and 15 rebounds, including nine points in the first quarter when the Mustangs (15-10) jumped out to a 26-8 lead.
Kilpatrick used a full court press and superior athleticism to overwhelm the Falcons (20-4.)
“They were so athletic it caught us off guard,” WVC coach Brady Day said. “We missed a lot of easy shots, the rebounding killed us and turnovers.”
West Valley Christian came in with the sparkling record and four players averaging in double figures but the Falcons only had two players reach 10 points each while Kilpatrick had four players in double digits.
James Dixon had 14, Mike Sanders had 13 and John Frye chipped in 11.
Frye made a 3-pointer in the second quarter to give Kilpatrick a 33-8 lead, James Sydow made a 3-pointer right near the halftime buzzer and when WVC cut the lead to 17 midway through the fourth quarter, the Mustangs used a quick 7-0 run to end all doubts.
“Our tough schedule really prepared us for today’s stage,” Kilpatrick assistant coach Shon Tarver said.
WVC leading scorer Temitayo Osilesi came in averaging over 14 points per game but didn’t score until the 6:40 mark in the third quarter.
“Their whole team could dunk in warm-ups, it made us nervous,” Osilesi said. “We got down so big it was hard to catch up.”
Osilesi and Nick Rojas led WVC with 10 points each but the Falcons shot only 31%, were outrebounded 52-36 and committed 32 turnovers.
“They were very diffucult to prepare for,” Day said. “We thought they would have played more man-to-man defense but they came out in a zone. It was our first time here but we will be back.”
It was quite a turnaround for both programs as Kilpatrick was 2-21 last year and WVC went winless.
Kilpatrick coach Kurt M. Keller put it all in perspective.
“We had better talent last year and won two games. The roster changed week to week this year and we became champions.”