And racing out to a 14-0 lead less than two minutes into the game certainly qualified as a fast start.
Russ Permenter produced a huge performance with 30 points and 16 rebounds, Allyn Cooks scored 23 points and Chris Ellis added 14 as Temple jumped all over the Coyotes early and cruised to a 125-85 victory in the teams’ Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference opener.
“It was very important. That was the fuel to our fire,” sophomore wing Ellis (10 rebounds) said of TC’s blazing start, during which he made a 3-point basket and two free throws. “The No. 1 thing on our mind tonight was to come out and hustle.”
After a four-week break for the holidays, the Leopards (11-6) lost two of three games in their weekend trip to Fort Smith, Ark., with 6-9 sophomore forward and Temple graduate Permenter missing most of the second game and all of the third game because of an ejection.
Therefore, the best way for TC to get that taste out of its mouth was to set the tone for the rest of its season by beating Weatherford (6-10).
“We wanted to make a statement at home, because there’s a lot of teams in our conference with good records,” Temple coach Kirby Johnson said. “It’s been hard going through our schedule, but we’ve had 16 non-conference games to get ready for seven weeks of conference games. That prepared us.”
Temple got some additional good news earlier Wednesday, learning that injured standout sophomore wing J.B. Conley might return in only two or three weeks instead of possibly missing the rest of the season. Conley was thought to have suffered a broken ankle in practice last week, but his injury now has been diagnosed as a stress fracture and he could work out again soon.
“That’s big,” Johnson said of the update on Conley. “We needed some good news.”
Belton graduate Marlon Miller scored 10 points for TC, Jamar Beasley (Killeen Shoemaker) and Sean Jones added nine apiece and Davon Morrison and Sully Haywood chipped in eight apiece to aid a balanced attack.
Weatherford edged Temple for last season’s NTJCAC championship, but the Coyotes of first-year coach Dave Donnelly had no answers for the Leopards on this night, playing porous defense from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
Kendall Durant, cousin of former Texas star and Oklahoma City Thunder player Kevin Durant, scored 20 points for Weatherford, as did Marcus Brister. DeAngelo Robinson added 16.
It’s difficult to say a game can be decided within the first two minutes, but for all intents and purposes this one was.
Temple won the opening tip, and lightning-fast freshman point guard Cooks turned it into a layup with only three seconds gone. Permenter then collected a loose ball and scored inside 25 seconds later to make it 4-0. Ellis (Harker Heights) took advantage of a turnover by drilling a 3-pointer from the right corner, then Morrison made another 3 for a 10-0 score at the 18:50 mark.
Cooks then grabbed a steal and threw down a two-handed dunk, and Ellis hit two free throws to give the Leopards a commanding 14-0 advantage only 1:57 into the game.
There was a lot of basketball left, but not much drama.
Weatherford gathered itself enough to make it 18-9, and Durant’s quick-strike offense had the Coyotes within 30-20 with 9:11 left before halftime.
But with Permenter taking control on both ends, Temple pulled away again and for good. He scored twice inside, stepped back to sink a rare 3-pointer, made a putback and hit four foul shots at the end of the half to give the Leopards a 54-32 lead at the break.
“I talked to Russ before the game and said, ‘You need to be a more dominant force. You’re capable of having a 30-and-15 night,’” Johnson said. “I guess I should tell him that more often.”
After Johnson urged his team to come out in the second half “just as tenacious” as it was in the first, Permenter, Ellis and Cooks controlled the early action to remove any hope of a comeback for the Coyotes.
Temple will seek a 2-0 league start when it plays Hill at 4 p.m. Saturday in Hillsboro.
gwille@temple-telegram.com
