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The man they call Biscuit was cooking Monday night.
Jakhia Kline played his best high school game, unleashing his entire arsenal and highlighting a terrific collective bench performance as Williamsport won its second game in three nights. Kline scored 12 points and made made five steals, the bench sparked two pivotal first-half runs and the Millionaires defeated pesky North Penn-Mansfield, 62-46 at the Magic Dome.
Kline, a 6-foot-5 forward, led Williamsport in scoring and steals and caused North Penn-Mansfield problems with his size, speed and instincts. It was a breakout performance from a player who could become a weapon as the postseason nears.
“We (the reserves) just had to play our hardest,” Kline said. “It takes some pressure off when we’re playing like that. I don’t have to try and do so much when everyone is helping out.”
“He did an excellent job of competing and getting positioning in the post and making it difficult for them to make post feeds. He shows sparks and some glimpses of that energy as far as offensive rebounding and that’s what I saw during the offseason, his ability to just go get the ball and not wait for it,” Williamsport coach Allen Taylor said. “A lot of kids wait for the ball to come to them. Biscuit will go get it when he’s engaged.”
He certainly was Monday.
Kline was a difference-maker inside, attacking the glass and pulling down five rebounds, including three offensive. He scored off two of those and was 6 of 7 from the field. The junior scored six straight fourth-quarter points, helping Williamsport fight off a North Penn-Mansfield rally after the Panthers had cut a 23-point deficit to 14 with a little less than four minutes remaining.
It was Kline’s defense, however, which might have made the biggest difference. In addition to his five steals, Kline often anticipated well, jumping into passing lanes and causing deflections which produced turnovers. Those were vital on a night North Penn-Mansfield did all it could to slow the game down and dictate the tempo.
“Playing defense is my favorite thing,” Kline said. “I’m just out there doing whatever I can to help the team win.”
“His whole thing is just experience and confidence. I don’t have to beat him up. The coaches don’t have to beat him up. He beats himself up a lot of times. My thing to him is flush it, learn from it and go on to the next play,” Taylor said. “He definitely shows a lot of promise. With more experience his confidence will grow and he’s going to contribute a lot more as we continue to move forward.”
The same goes for fellow reserves like George Whaley, Jamaire Harden, Nelson Macdonald, Thomas Takach and Zach Lake. All played vital roles against North Penn-Mansfield and whenever the reserves entered, the intensity rose as did the production. Those reserves combined for 35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 steals and eight assists.
Immediately upon entering in the first and second quarters, the bench ignited runs. The first was a 9-0 first-quarter spurt and the next a 7-3 flurry which helped Williamsport go up by nine at halftime. The starters played with more fire in the third quarter and Elijah Frierson and Kenon Brown combined for 14 points there as Williamsport went up 50-29.
A second-quarter sequence best showed the reserves’ crucial effort. After Harden (8 points, 3 steals) made a steal and layup, Kline followed with a steal. He then found Whaley (6 points, 3 assists) in transition and Whaley fed Harden for another basket. Harden scored six straight points at that time and Williamsport moved ahead by 11.
“I thought our reserves played a lot harder than our starters did. We got a lot out of Jakhia. Jamaire played hard and well for us and made some smart decisions. Nelly (Macdonald) came in and gave us a little spark,” Taylor said. “That was the goal, to get these guys some minutes, because we’re going to need them down the stretch.”
North Penn-Mansfield also has its eye toward that stretch run into the postseason and that is why it wanted to play this game. The Tigers (9-5) are part of a fiercely competitive District 4 Class AAA playoff field and playing a good 6A team like Williamsport can only help as it tries making some postseason noise. That goes double since they gave Williamsport a battle and never backed down.
“I feel like they’ll get confidence from this. Hopefully they realize a big part of it was effort,” North Penn-Mansfield coach Kipper Burleigh said. “I felt like there was an extra sense of urgency than maybe we’ve had in our last two games. We got some turnovers that we hadn’t gotten recently and it was just because of effort. We didn’t X and O anything different. We just got to spots quicker than we have been.”
North Penn-Mansfield never led but cut an 11-point deficit to seven midway through the second quarter before Williamsport’s bench changed the complexion again. Williamsport, however, dominated the third quarter, scoring 23 points and making 9 of 13 shots. The Tigers earned some layups off the Williamsport’s full-court press but that press also forced crucial turnovers which the Millionaires pounced on.
Williamsport appeared in command, but the Tigers never went away. Karson Dominick scored 10 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter and twice hit shots which made it a 14-point game. Kline delivered the knockout blow, but North Penn-Mansfield proved a worthy challenge. Brody Burleigh was tough inside and scored 14 points while adding six rebounds. Dominick made four steals and Sammy Lawrence added two.
“Karson can flat out shoot the basketball. He shoots it extremely well. I feel like if we get the ball into Brody, 60 percent of the time he’s going to score. Sometimes it’s hard getting it to him with what they’re doing defensively,” Burleigh said. “Sammy is our most important player, getting the ball from Point A to point B. We’re just trying to get him to attack a little more.”
“Those guys came out and competed,” Taylor said. “They got a lot out of it.”
NP-MANSFIELD (46)
Karson Dominick 8 0-1 17, Brody Burleigh 5 4-4 14, Sam Lawrence 1 2-2 4, Eli Shaw 2 0-0 6, Alex Davis 2 0-0 5, Andrew Green 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 6-7 46.
WILLIAMSPORT (62)
Kenon Brown 3 0-0 7, Elijah Frierson 4 0-0 9, Caleb Fausnaught 2 0-0 4, Xavier Taylor 0 0-0 0, Nayim Connelly-Ali 3 1-2 7, George Whaley 2 1-2 6, Jakhia Kline 6 0-2 12, Nelson Macdonald 2 0-0 5, Jamaire Harden 4 0-0 8, Thomas Takach 2 0-0 4, Zach Lake 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 2-6 62.
NP-Mansfield 6 12 11 17-46
Williamsport 13 14 23 12-62
3-pointers: NP-Mansfield 4 (Shaw 2, Dominick, Davis); Williamsport 4 (Brown, Frierson, Whaley, Macdonald).
Records: Williamsport 11-4. NP-Mansfield 9-5.