Chiefs Edge Cowboys

TAMPA - With the game tied and 8.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter Friday night, the Chamberlain boys basketball team tried to dribble out the clock until the final second for a potential game-winning shot against Gaither.

Instead of relying on a last-second shot, the Chiefs were given four chances to take the lead. After Chamberlain junior guard Dontae Aycock was fouled as he drove to the basket with 2.1 seconds left, Gaither coach Dwyane Olinger was issued a technical for stepping too far onto the court. Aycock made the first shot but missed the second, and senior guard Dantavis Adkins missed both technical shots. Because Chamberlain was given possession of the ball after the technical, senior guard Mike Plummer was able to dribble out the clock as the Chiefs won 54-53 in a nondistrict game.

"Gaither could have easily won that game," Chamberlain coach Doug Aplin said.

The story of the game wasn't the last-second free-throw shots, however, but the breakout performance of Chamberlain junior center Matt Kendrick, who finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Typically, the team's success hinges on the trio of Aycock, Adkins and Plummer, but against Gaither, the guards struggled from the field.

"That's why they dumped it down to me," said Kendrick, who played backup center last year for the Chiefs.

The 6-foot-9 Kendrick averaged 8.0 points per game heading into Friday's contest.

"He was working hard to get open and he scored," Aplin said. "He's been doing a good job rebounding, but offensively, his best game of the season."

Senior guard Kornilous Donnell led Gaither (7-12) with 21 points and six rebounds. Eddie Munoz added 12 points and two steals.

Gaither had led since the score was 9-8 in the first quarter, but the Chiefs (14-4) took the lead off a layup by Kendrick. He scored eight of his team's 14 fourth-quarter points.

"We got into a bit of a hurry," Olinger said. "We may have shot too quickly when we had the lead."