Kennedale boys basketball survives Krum to reach the Class 4A Division 2 championship
The Kennedale and Krum boys basketball teams played a barn burner in the first game of the season, won by Kennedale by four points, 76-72. The two met in the Class 4A Division 2 state semifinals four months later and the game was just as close and just as exciting.
Kennedale got a pair of free throws from junior guard Jacoby Lovings with four seconds left in the game and the Wildcats survived a last gasp shot by Krum to defeat the Bobcats 62-60 on Tuesday, Mar. 4, at Glen Rose High School.
“I just wanted to knock them down and get it done, just like we do in practice with my teammates,” said Lovings who finished with 14 points including six of eight from the line. “Krum has a very good team with a lot of shooters, but we got the job done. We don’t have to go to school on Friday now so I’m excited.”
Kennedale (32-7), No. 12 in the state in Class 4A according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, will be making its second appearance in a state championship game when the Wildcats meet No. 8 Houston Wheatley (28-7) at 5 p.m. Friday, Mar. 7, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Wheatley defeated No. 9 La Marque 51-44.
“Coming down to the end we executed perfectly,” said Kennedale coach Doug Groff. “We got the two shots we wanted with the guy we wanted to have the ball in his hands. Jacoby (Lovings) has ice water in his veins and hands.
“I also thought that we did a good job of pressuring and not fouling on that final shot.”
No. 15 Krum (26-10) jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and the Wildcats spent the rest of the half playing catch up. The Bobcats took their biggest lead of the opening half, 14-5, on a pair of free throws by Carson Bird with 2:11 left in the first quarter.
Bryson Nickerson helped Kennedale rally with a pair of free throws after an intentional foul on Krum, followed by another basket by Nickerson that cut the lead to 22-18 with 4:48 left in the second quarter.
Kennedale took its first lead of the game on a Trey Smith lay in with 1:50 left before halftime to make it 27-26. Smith hit a ten-footer to end the first half to put Kennedale up 29-28.
The Wildcats upped their lead to eight, 41-33 after a lay in by Smith, but Krum went on a 14-4 run to close the third quarter to retake the lead at 47-45. Andyn Garza, who led all scorers with 21 points, had back-to-back threes during the run including one at the third quarter buzzer.
Smith, who had 19 points to lead Kennedale, gave the Wildcats a 53-31 lead on a three with 5:28 left in the game. The game stayed within four points the rest of the way until Lovings was fouled with four seconds left.
“This feels amazing since we haven’t gone to San Antonio in a few years,” said Smith. “We went back and forth with a really good team from Krum. When Jacoby (Lovings) hit those two free throws I was just like, ‘I love you man’.”
Nickerson had nine points and Jayden Miller had eight points for Kennedale. Carson Bird scored 13 points and Cash Andrus chipped in 11 for Krum.
Kennedale went 33-5 in 2007-08 bringing home a Class 3A state championship under Groff. He took the Wildcats back to the state tournament in 2013-14 where Kennedale suffered its only loss of the season (38-1) in the 3A state semifinals.
Krum’s storied basketball history includes 18 trips to the state semifinals or better with five state championships. It has been 27 years since the Bobcats have made it this far with Krum winning Class 2A state titles in 1993-94, 1995-96 and 1997-98.
This story was originally published March 4, 2025 at 9:58 PM.