Agnew's big night leads L'Koste Villa past Hoffman Ford in Smallwood title game

Kevin Agnew figured it was time.

 

And with his L'Koste Villa side (Trinity) trailing by a handful of points with just over seven minutes remaining in the championship game of the Kirk Smallwood Summer Basketball League, the 5-9 rising senior did everything he could to find a way to pop open and get a look.

 

More importantly, those shots fell.

 

Agnew poured in 32 points - 16 in each half - as L'Koste Villa rallied for a 55-45 victory over Hoffman Ford (Central Dauphin) Monday night at Harrisburg High's steamy Kimber Gymnasium.

 

"I tried to [take over]," a grinning Agnew said. "We were struggling to put the ball in the basket a little bit. We were playing good defense, but I don't know what [the score] was.

 

"It was like seven points the entire time, so I just tried to step up - not try to do too much - but do what I could do to get my shot off without trying to do too much," Agnew added. "And my guys looked for me, so they were hitting me when I was open."

 

Which happened quite frequently.

 

Agnew popped L'Koste Villa in front (44-42) with four minutes left, burying a bomb from deep in the left corner after rubbing off a screen and popping open.

 

"Every time we need a bucket ... we run that play," said Agnew, who scored 10 straight points during that decisive stretch. "We work on it all the time. We run it in the season all the time whenever we need a shot or a 3, so I got a good screen from I think it was Alex [Wise] and it got me open.

 

"And I hit the shot."

 

Agnew hit another biggie 90 seconds later, nailing the last of his four treys off a pass from his little brother, Jay, to push L'Koste Villa in front to stay (47-44).

 

"Tough. Tough little guy," said Hoffman Ford coach Jay Crosier. "He hit his head the other night and I helped him up, but I didn't know he was until then. He's tough. Tough little dude.

 

"Probably had half their points."

 

And then some.

 

"Kevin did a heck of a job," said L'Koste Villa coach Larry Kostelac Jr., whose club also picked up seven points from Jack Osborne and five from Alex Wise.

 

Agnew's heroics also spoiled an outstanding effort by Hoffman Ford's 6-8 rising junior Devin Thomas, who collected 24 points, 16 rebounds and a couple of blocked shots.

 

"I wish he was on our team," Kostelac said. "He's wearing the right colors, just doen't say the right thing on his shirt. I'd love to have a kid like that, he's just terrific."