by Alan Hoskins
Kansas City Kansas Community College ran into a buzz saw against a team you’ve never heard about Friday night.
Link Year, a first-year preparatory basketball school in Branson, Mo., put on a torrid shooting display that sent the Blue Devils down to a 101-90 defeat in opening round play of the annual Keith Lindsey Classic. Pared against St. Louis Community College in final round action today at 6 p.m., the Blue Devils go on the road to Allen County Tuesday and North Central Thursday.
Torrid shooting, particularly from the perimeter, doomed the Blue Devils against Link Year. The Lions notched 13-of-24 three-pointers (54.2 percent) including 7-of-10 the second half when the game was being decided and were 30-of-55 overall for 54.5 percent.
A trio of NCAA Division I prospects led the Lions. Timothy Hardy, a 6-0 guard, led with 31 points including seven treys; 6-0 Jordan Grant was 8-of-9 from the field including 5-of-6 three-pointers for 25 points; and 6-8 Calvin Goldsmith added 23 points and six rebounds.
Freshman guard Mike Lee led KCKCC with 23 points and five assists while Lashawn Lewis added 14 points off the bench on 6-of-7 shooting. Sophomore Dehaven Talley chipped in with 10 points and freshmen Kellan Turner and Jonathan Murray added 9 each, Xavier Gaona 8 and Devante Sayles 7. Gaona also led in rebounds with six and shared assist honors with Lee with five each.
Deadlocked 42-42, KCKCC couldn’t match up with Link Year’s long range bombing the second half. Hardy made five of his seven three-point attempts the second half while Grant was good on both of his tries.
KCKCC shot well enough (.469) to win many games, battled the lanky Lions to a draw on the boards and came up with nine steals in forcing 14 turnovers while committing only 10.
Founded to offer players a year after high school to continue to improve their basketball skills against college teams in the Midwest, it’s safe to say Link Year is off to a quality start and won’t be an unknown for long.
Alan Hoskins is the sports information director at Kansas City Kansas Community College.