Keenan boys basketball rolls past Strom Thurmond despite sloppy start

It might have been because Saturday’s game was played a couple hours earlier than usual. Maybe it was because two starters picked up a pair of avoidable fouls in the opening quarter, tipping the rotation out of sorts. Whatever the cause, the Keenan boys basketball team was far from sharp Saturday.

Not that it slowed the defending Class 2A State champions much.

Defense carried the Raiders early, and they settled down in a 59-39 win against Strom Thurmond in the second round of the 2A state playoffs. Despite not being at their peak level, they advanced to a meeting Tuesday against the winner of the game between Andrew Jackson and Ninety Six.

“We were real sluggish coming out,” Keenan coach Zach Norris said. “There’s no excuse for us to be sluggish now. Especially when we’ve got a team full of veterans. We’ve got six seniors on this team, and we expect for them to come out and be ready.”

The trouble spots included nine turnovers in the opening quarter and a third-quarter technical foul on senior center LeMarcus Johnson, just as Keenan (18-8) seemed to be pulling away.

That said, the Rebels (13-13) only got as close as eight points, a testament to the hosts’ firepower and ability to wear down the Rebels.

“We played as hard as we can play,” Strom Thrumond coach Bo Rouse said. “Keenan’s a good team. We just couldn’t match the intensity. They beat us up inside a little bit. It’s all I can say. We played hard, We gave it all we can.”

Freshman Jamarvious Jones led the Rebels with eight points, but the Raiders held them to 23.7 percent shooting with 24 turnovers.

With the offense trying to go too fast, Norris put the ball in the hands of junior guard Tariq Simmons. The team’s leading scorer didn’t shoot well early but got assists on at least four of his teammate’s 10 baskets in the first two quarters. After halftime, he found his points, finishing with 16 to go along with nine rebounds.

Simmons is a veteran of last year’s title run. He led the team in scoring in an Upper State finals win against these same Rebels a year ago and admitted an off night might help refocus his squad on the task ahead.

“We have to,” Simmons said. “Everybody is going to give us their best shot every game. So we have to grind it out every game. I know every game is going to be tough. Ain’t going to be easy for nothing.”

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 8:43 PM with the headline "Keenan boys basketball rolls past Strom Thurmond despite sloppy start."