Kenwood’s skid continues as Rashaun Agee-led Bogan cruises

Marlo Finner’s Kenwood squad was showing a lot of fight on the road against one of the city’s top teams Tuesday night.

And then they weren’t.

After the Broncos — who trailed 14-3 early — crawled back with within one point late in the second quarter, No. 2 Bogan erupted on a 21-1 run spanning both sides of halftime to launch the contest into blowout territory. The host Bengals (18-2, 5-2 Red-South/Central) eventually cruised to an 81-59 win.

“I keep telling the guys: It’s a mental approach to this game, it’s a toughness,” said Finner, whose team has now lost four times in eight days. “A lot of the time, our guys don’t have that toughness for 32 minutes.”

The first two losses in Kenwood’s recent slump were easily forgivable: competitive defeats at No. 8 Simeon and against top-ranked Curie.

But then the Broncos (11-8, 3-4 Red-South/Central) scored only 42 points in a non-conference loss to Kankakee on Sunday. And then Tuesday’s rout happened.

“I’ve been coaching them all year long about toughness, how to fight through adversity, and obviously I’m not doing a good job,” Finner added.

Kenwood had no answer all night for Bogan senior forward Rashaun Agee, who dominated the boards and finished with 22 points (on 10-of-13 shooting) and 18 rebounds.

Agee picked up an offer from Buffalo over the weekend — arguably the most impressive suitor yet among a list that already included Northern Illinois, Milwaukee, Detroit and Chicago State — but it clearly didn’t go to his head. The 6-foot-8 monster wrecked havoc throughout the contest and played well into the fourth quarter, even with the score out of hand.

“He averages like 22 and 18 — that’s the norm for him. He’s getting double-doubles every day,” Bogan coach Arthur Goodwin said. “I rode him hard the last two years, so this year is his year. We’ve got a lot of seniors playing amazing parts, but we’ve also got some underclassmen we’re getting ready for next year; Rashaun is the key, and then we’re trying to get those guys to watch him.”

Defensively, Agee said Bogan’s scouting had revealed Kenwood takes very few jump shots, so he was able to focus his attention on preventing penetration.

“(At halftime, coach) said, ‘You know what they’re going to do, they’re going to drive to the bucket,’” Agee said. “Nobody on their team takes jump shots, so why let them drive?”

Offensively, speedy point guard Jordan Booker nearly matched Agee with 19 points of his own, on 8-of-17 shooting. Junior sharpshooter Scott Lanier Jr. made a brief but major impact off the bench by going 3-for-3 from deep. Bogan as a whole shot nearly 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line, and looked every bit a top-two team in the region.

Kenwood, meanwhile, shot only 44 percent from the field and 55 percent from the line, and were out-rebounded significantly.

Junior center Seryee Lewis had another strong night with 20 points, and Artese Stapleton added 11 points and eight rebounds. Yet senior guard Lamond Johnson (nine points) showed numerous signs of rust following his recent return from injury, and the team’s overall effort was not close to satisfactory for Finner.

“Hopefully we can get back in the gym and just fight,” the coach said. “We have to fight. There’s no shortcut about this — you’ve got to fight (and) approach the game with a tough mindset. That’s it.”