By nearly more than double, the Key West High boys basketball team scored a season high, changing the narrative of its last four games, this time being the squad that rallied after trailing in the first quarter to outscore Goleman High during each of the final three quarters to claim a 92-79 victory, the first for coach Dexter Butler on the court bearing his father’s name, on Saturday, Jan. 14, at the Bobby Menendez Gymnasium.
During three of the Conchs’ previous five losses, Key West held a first-quarter advantage only to let it slip away by the third quarter in each, but on Saturday, it was the Gators who opened with a 30-19 lead after one quarter of play. A night prior, Key West was trailed 21-9 to Hialeah Educational Academy by 12 after the first before losing 83-44, but this time around it would not be a repeat performance as the Conchs responded by outscoring the Gators 33-18 in the second to take a four-point halftime lead.
Guided by the inside presence of Eric Moore, who crashed the boards for 12 rebounds as part of his double-double with a team-high 25 points along with two blocks and two steals, while Watson Cherry grabbed 17 rebounds and added eight points, and on the outside Kameron Roberts dropping in 15 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, with James Osborne contributing 21 points and four steals, Key West expanded its lead to double digits, 74-64, at the end of the third.
Despite Goleman cutting the lead to six points in the fourth, Key West stayed the course with nine different Conchs scoring in the win. Leandro Batista tallied nine points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six steals, Aumari Butler-Bailey added seven points, four rebounds and three steals, Zane Jackson had four points, Kevon Mills score two with four rebounds, and David Aviles made a free throw as the Key West lead was never threatened down the stretch. The 92 points scored by the Conchs was nearly double the previous season-best of 55.
After garnering its first home victory for Butler, in his first season as Conchs coach, and third in 14 games this season, Key West will have an opportunity to make it two straight on Bill Butler Court when Marathon comes to the Bobby Menendez Gymnasium on Friday, Jan. 20, for a 7 p.m. tip-off, the Conchs having already won the first meeting between the county rivals this season, but first Key West will head to Sagemont on Tuesday, Jan. 17, for a game at 5:30 p.m.
