Kingman Daily Miner

Kingman Academy head basketball coach Brian Devincenzi had to do something with this team that was hard for him to do. Be patient and wait. Wait for his prized, silky-smooth guard David Larrabee to become eligible to play this season. Patient for the team to jell together once he did start playing.

On Friday night at the Betty Rowe Gymnasium, Larabee continued his brilliant performance by scoring 21 points on a combination of drives to the basket and outside jumpers.

Tigers’ big man Cade Martin scored 18 points and once again, actually twice, he slammed two McNasty dunks that brought the crowd to its feet in a 67-30 romp over Mohave Accelerated.

“On the second dunk me and Larabee made eye contact, he threw it to me and I dunked it,” Martin said.

The Tigers are in the midst of a three-game homestand with a showdown against region rival Parker looming with first place on the line at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Parker lost to Trivium Prep on Friday 73-59, and a victory for the Tigers gives them a two-game lead in the region.

“It was execution tonight,” Devincenzi said. “For the first time, tonight we had the best execution we’ve had all season. Everybody was on the same page. Everybody came to the game ready, which I hope is a trend.”

Kingman Academy (7-6, 4-0 2A West Region) is one of the most compelling stories of the season. The Tigers have won four games in a row, all of them in regional play.

With Larrabee at guard, teams can no longer double-team Martin or Tyler Chinyere on the inside, which has been key to this four-game run.

On defense, the guards can clog the passing lanes and allow the defense to take chances and gamble for steals.

“That is all we had worked on,” Devincenzi said. “We‘ve worked really hard on defense.”