LICK CREEK — Raynold Kasongo.
Pronounced (kuh-SONG’-O’). Get used to the name along with Tony Wolter.
The dynamic duo made highlight play after highlight play as the Warriors picked up a 60-57 home opening win over Letcher Central Thursday night.
Wolter scored a game-high 23 points in the win, while Kasongo scored 18 points and blocked nine shots on the night.
“Ray only played about half the game,” East Ridge coach Preston LeMaster said. “Patrick Coleman came in and did a great job for us on the boards. Patrick is one of our seniors and I thought he did a heck of the job when Ray (Kasongo) got into foul trouble.
“I harped on him (Kasongo) that if he wanted to be the type of player that he wants to be that defense would be the key for him. Ray has a lot of potential and is athletic and big and quick, but I told him if he wants to help us become a good team, he’d have to be strong on the defensive side of the ball. Tonight he was a presence on defense.”
The Warriors got off to a slow start as Letcher Central jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Matt Boggs opened the game with a basket and a pair of free throws. Then Cody Gregory added a basket and Logan Johnson came up with a steal and a layup to give the Cougars an 8-0 lead with 6:18 left in the first quarter.
East Ridge came firing back. Kasongo scored on an offensive rebound putback with 5:43 left to cut the lead to 8-2. Hayden Mullins fired in a jumper and Wolter came up with a steal and basket to cut the lead to 8-6. Jonny Miller knocked down a three with 4:31 left in the opening quarter to give the Warriors a 9-8 lead.
“I think we have a good combination at the guard spots,” LeMaster said. “Tony (Wolter) is as talented as anybody. He handles the ball well and shoots well. He has a tremendous upside. Then add in Jonny Miller’s shooting and we got a great combination of guards. Miller is as good shooting the ball as anybody and he is only a freshman. I think we have a lot of good pieces with this team.”
Mullins knocked down a three with 2:45 to push the East Ridge lead to 13-11. The Cougars ended the quarter strong with an 8-2 run to hold a 17-15 lead after the opening period of play.
“I told them that they had to be ready to play tonight,” LeMaster said. “We knew that Letcher Central was a good team and they are one of the top teams in the 14th Region. Coach Hammonds does a tremendous job and those guys took it to us.
“I think we came out a little nervous. Maybe we had some jitters because this was our home opener and we started slow, but once we got going, I thought we did a good job.”
East Ridge came out strong in the second quarter. Kasongo threw down a dunk to open the quarter and scored a two and was fouled on the next play to give East Ridge a 20-17 lead. Logan Johnson answered with a basket and was fouled on the play to tie things at 20-20.
“This team is not going to be the same team that you see come March,” LeMaster said. “We are taking it day-by-day. We want to get better each practice and each game. It truly is a day-by-day process for us because we are so young and because we haven’t gelled yet. If we gel the way we want them too, then we could be a pretty good team at the end of the season.”
The Warriors finished the half strong. With the game tied at 22-22, Wolter scored to give East Ridge the lead. Mullins followed with a three and Kasongo scored with 40 seconds left in the half to give East Ridge a 29-22 lead at the break.
Letcher Central fired back in the third. The Cougars opened up with six straight points to cut the lead to 29-28. Wolter stopped the bleeding for the Warriors by knocking in a three to push the lead to 32-28 with 6:00 left. The Cougars tied things up at 39-39, but Kasongo scored on an out-of-bounds alley oop from Korey Thacker. The dunk helped the Warriors finish the quarter strong as East Ridge held a 47-41 heading into the fourth quarter.
Letcher Central fought back once again, though. Johnson scored with 5:15 left in the game to cut East Ridge’s lead to 52-51. Wolter answered with a three to push the lead to 55-51 with 4:30 left, but Koree Stewart scored with 3:01 left to tie things up at 55-55.
Once again, Wolter came up with the answer. He scored a basket and was fouled with 2:40 left to put the Warriors up 58-55.
On the next Letcher Central possession, Kasongo fouled out with 2:18 left. Johnson missed both free throws and the Warriors held a 58-55 lead. Mullins stepped up and knocked down a jumped with 1:58 left to push the lead to 60-55.
Stewart scored with 1:44 left to cut the lead to 60-57; it turned out to be the last basket of the game. The Cougars had a couple of opportunities to score again, but they came up short on two three-pointers, including one as time ran out.
East Ridge (3-1) is scheduled to visit county rival Phelps tonight at 7:30 p.m.
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Letcher Central 17 5 19 18 — 57
East Ridge 15 14 18 13 — 60
Letcher Central — Koree Stewart 19, Cody Gregory 12, Matt Boggs 10, Logan Johnson 10, Kendall Ballou 6.
East Ridge — Tony Wolter 23, Ray Kasongo 18, Hayden Mullins 12, Jonny Miller 7.
