Kyle Randall reached down deep, displaying dignity in the face of defeat Friday afternoon.
Kennedy Catholic High’s senior standout had just concluded his scholastic cage career as Mercer County’s all-time leading scorer, but never mentioned the accomplishment until the subject was broached by an observer.
Instead, Randall was remorseful he and the Golden Eagles ended their season a step shy of their goal — the PIAA pedestal — after Girard College inflicted an 80-70 setback at Penn State University’s Bryce Jordan Center for the commonwealth’s Class A crown.
During the second half specifically, Randall spent more time helping himself off the hardwood than he was actually upright or airborne, such was the Cavaliers’ concerted effort to not allow him to beat them. They made him work for every one of his game-high 33 points (on 10-for-21 shooting from the field and 13-for-17 free-throw marksmanship), with 5-foot-9 whippet Ahmir Whiting face-guarding him and 6-3 Lance Devero lending a physical dimension to double teams. Randall played virtually the entire second half on a sprained left ankle, sustained approximately 2 minutes in after he was clubbed to the floor on a drive.
“He’s an exceptional player,” said admiring Cavs’ coach Tyrone Morris regarding Randall. “All week we had been reading about him on-line and we had opportunities to see some tape on him. He has the pull-up, he’s quick off the dribble, and he can get to the basket. So we just wanted to not give him any easy baskets, make him earn every basket, and it looks like he did a good job of that (Friday). He earned a lot of baskets, but we just wanted to make it tough on him, make sure hands were up, and when he was driving to the basket, not foul him and make him earn every basket. And I believe we did that.”
Randall recorded 724 points this season — converting 223 of 299 free-throw attempts (74.5 percent) — to conclude his career with 2,022 points, 7 more than former Commodore Perry standout Clay Sindlinger. However Friday afternoon, moments after having his silver medal hung around his neck, his personal accomplishment was tainted.
Given his ’druthers, Randall replied to the question, “I would’ve taken a state championship any day. No, (the record) means nothing to me, ’cause scoring was never my goal; I was trying to get a state championship, so this is just a bonus. But I’m not going to really worry about that, I’m not going to harp on that because it’s all about the state championship. Unfortunately (the record) came with a loss, so it is what it is.
“I’m the leader of the team, so I try to get everybody involved. I mean, scoring ... I only do it if I have to,” Randall continued. “When I need to score, I’ll score. But if we’re winning when I’m getting everybody involved, then I’m going to keep doing what’s working. Unfortunately, our players missed a couple shots here and there, but I’m not gonna say we played bad, ’cause we played our hearts out; it’s just that (the Cavaliers) had the better game (Fri)day.”
Normally understated Kennedy Catholic head coach Marlon McGaughy gave Randall respect for his warrior’s mentality:
“(The ankle) was pretty sore, but Kyle’s a great kid. You’d almost have to push him off a bridge for him to not play a game, and he’d be under water and probably still come back up and keep trying to play.”
Who said Kyle Randall isn’t a champion?
Ed Farrell is assistant sports editor for The Herald
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