With a top seed in the Southwest Preparatory Conference Division I playoffs on the line, the Episcopal Knights overwhelmed the Kinkaid Falcons on their home floor to earn an 85-51 victory and clinch the SPC South Zone championship in front of a capacity crowd at Melcher Gym on Friday night.
Episcopal (28-3, 7-0) used a quick offensive start aided by a tenacious defense to jump out to an 18-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Knights aggressively played the passing lanes and forced turnovers or disrupted the offensive rhythm of the Falcons on almost every possession.
The turnovers led to layups and continued into the second quarter. Led by senior guard Ken Williams in the first 2:30 of the period, the Knights outscored Kinkaid 14-4 to extend the lead to 32-8.
“We talk about defense, defense, defense in practice,” said Williams following the game. “Coach (Kyle Manary) says play defense and the offense will come.”
Kinkaid (20-8, 6-1) finished the quarter on a 12-4 run to close the gap to 36-20 by halftime, led by sophomore forwards Mavin Saunders and Jeff Roberson.
But Episcopal got out to another quick start in the third quarter and effectively sealed the victory in the period.
Led again by Williams’ slashing drives, the Knights outscored the Falcons 28-12 in the third and carried an insurmountable 64-32 lead.
Williams finished the game with 25 points.
The teams basically traded scores in the final quarter, as Episcopal outscored Kinkaid 21-19, as both coaches emptied their benches in the final regular season contest for both schools.
For the Knights, Williams was joined in double-figure scoring by Jamal Williams, who scored 16, and Jordan Rutherford, who added 11 points off the bench.
Roberson led the Falcons in scoring with 16 points and Saunders scored 13.
Both teams now head into the SPC Division I playoffs and will be the top two seeds from the South Zone.
St. John’s, whose only SPC losses came to Episcopal and Kinkaid, will also represent the Houston area as the South Zone third seed.
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