SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Nearly everything that could have possibly gone wrong went wrong for the King’s Academy Knights on Tuesday afternoon, but brothers Jeffrey and Jon Taylor were there to save the day.
Jon, the freshman point guard, scored seven in the second quarter as his team trimmed Eastside’s 11-point halftime lead to one, and Jeffrey knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer with a minute left in the game after the Panthers had come back from down seven, giving the Knights the edge in a 53-50 win.
“We finally started getting in our offensive rhythm, knocking down shots and attacking,” Jon said.
One of two freshmen forced into action this season by injuries, Taylor had 14 points on Tuesday afternoon, he delivered the assist to his brother on the decisive basket after Eastside (11-4, 2-4 WBAL) had tied the game with a 10-4 run.
He’s been one of our clutchest shooters, and he’s been on all season knocking down threes,” Jon said of Jeffrey, a three-year varsity player.
The 3-pointer would be the last points either team scored as King’s Academy (7-9, 3-3) forced four Panther misses over the final minute and dodged a bullet after turning the ball over with 28.6 seconds left. Having sat in a zone defense to ensure that none of the players on their eight-man roster got in foul trouble, Eastside had fouled just once in the second half before the final minute, and after doing so twice, the Knights gave it up but wouldn’t surrender an open look at the other end.
To beat the defending WBAL champion was impressive by itself, but for the Knights to do it with Noah Short out sick was a landmark performance. Short had averaged a double-double on the season, and his absence compounded those of Nicholas Gipson and center Kevin Sielski, though Sielski is expected to return next week. Those injuries have already all but knocked TKA out of the race for the league title, but they haven’t forced the Knights to give up on the season.
“We have a lot of potential. I think we’re preparing for the playoffs, and that’s how we kind of half to look at it,” head coach Nate Carroll said after his team beat Eastside for the first time since 2017.
Even with star forward Raymond Reece on the bench for the first half, the Panthers took a 27-16 lead in the second quarter, with King’s Academy scrambling for solutions against a smaller lineup. Million Jackson scored six of his eight points in the first half to stake Eastside out to that early lead
“Coming into the game, (Reece) was the main focus, and him not playing kind of threw stuff off a bit for us,” Carroll said. “When he came in, we went back to our old gameplan, which was all about matching up with him inside.”
Reece was held to just two points but had a game-high 10 rebounds. David Haines scored 20 to lead the Panthers, including eight of his team’s 10 in the fourth quarter to even things up at 50. The elder of the Taylor brothers was quick to provide the answer, picking apart a zone defense that had given him tons of opportunities from the outside.
“Our team did a great job moving the ball, attacking the defense and creating lanes,” Jeffrey said after scoring a team-high 18 points. “When they got behind, they started gambling, which opened up a few more holes.”
Also an excellent pitcher on the baseball field, Taylor’s talent and work ethic has helped keep the Knights steady in a trying year.
“He’s early to practice every day and he works his butt off,” Carroll said. “It’s really paying off for him this year.”
The Knights travel to Harker (6-10, 0-6) on Friday night, while the Panthers will host Pinewood (9-6, 2-4) at 5 p.m. that same evening.
