Junior Murray drives into the lane for two during Kewanee’s 52-51 win over Monmouth-Roseville. [Photo provided by the Kewanee Athletic Department].

In a seesaw game that was close throughout, the Kewanee Boilers found a way to gut out a 52-51 Friday night win against Monmouth-Roseville – in a gym that’s widely known as “The Shoebox,” nonetheless. 

“I’m really proud of how our kids stepped up in a tough environment,” said a relieved Coach Matt Clark. “Monmouth is a tough place to play. It’s a small gym, fans are on top of the court, it’s hot,” he added. “It’s a true home court advantage, but it’s good for our team to have a game like this with the post-season coming up soon.”

With the non-conference win, Kewanee moves to 14-7 on the season and Monmouth-Roseville falls to 13-11. The Boilers are in second place in the TRAC-East at 3-2 and the Titans are 2-4 in TRAC-West play.

Behind the hot shooting of senior forward Aden Almaguer, Mon-Rose shot out to 19-14 first quarter lead. Almaguer connected on two 3-pointers en route to scoring 12 in the first frame. Braden Clark scored six for the Boilers and Catrelle Reed was 4-4 at the line. 

“Once again we had a slow start in the first quarter,” said Clark. “The last two games we’ve given up 22 and 19 first quarter points. We’ve got to find a way to start faster,” he added. “Falling behind early causes you to use so much energy to battle back.”

Fight back they did. Kewanee outscored the Titans 13-7 in the crucial second quarter, allowing the Boilers to take a 27-26 lead into the locker room at the break. 

“Our second quarter effort, defensively, was great,” noted Clark. “We limited them to seven points, which ended up being the difference in the game. Junior Murray came off the bench and did a great job with five quick points which was big for us,” he added. 

The last two quarters were played to a 25-25 draw (11-10 Kewanee and 15-14 Titans). Clark and senior guard Blaise Lewis scored five apiece in the third frame for the Boilers and senior forward Nico Avendano had five for Mon-Rose. 

Clark scored the bulk of Kewanee’s 14 fourth quarter points (11) in the 52-51 win, while Almaguer made two more threes in vain for the Titans. 

Clark led all scorers with 25 points and Lewis added 11 on the night. 

Almaguer topped Monmouth-Roseville with 21 and Avendano chipped in with 11 points.