As the calendar prepares to flip from January to February, the grind of the high school basketball season can start to take its toll.

Lincoln Williams said that was the case for he and his Kankakee boys basketball teammates in their home tilt against Southland Athletic Conference rival Thornwood on Friday night.

But a Kays team that has ambitions on playing through February and into March kicked things into gear in the second quarter, turning a back-and-forth battle into a comfortable 72-61 win.

“The first quarter we were tired and it was tough,” Williams, who tallied a game-high 28 points, said. “Second quarter we picked it up, came together and everything started falling for us.”

The grind of three straight weeks of road games was evident early for a Kankakee (18-1, 9-0 Southland) team that was playing its first home game in exactly three weeks, as the Kays missed more than a handful of layups in the first half, including several uncontested looks that swirled around the rim and rolled out that left the Kays 5 of 17 from the floor in the first.

That allowed the Thunderbirds (15-9, 3-6) to exchange seven lead changes and two ties with the Kays in the first quarter, but the last of those lead changes was an EJ Hazelett 3-pointer in the final minute of the quarter that gave the Kays a 12-9 lead they’d keep the rest of the way.

That lead grew to as large as 12 points on a few occasions in a third quarter in which the Kays exploded for 26 points. Kays coach Chris Pickett said that while some halftime talks might feature deep dives on fixing any first-half woes, that wasn’t the case Friday.

“We made layups, made baskets around the paint and that’s how the first half would have gone if we would have made those,” Pickett said. “Sometimes you look at a game and try to analyze the details. Tonight wasn’t that detailed. We missed too many layups in the first half.”

Williams made several of those layups, and a few highlight-reel dunks too, on his way to his game-high 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting that paired nicely with his seven rebounds, two assists and three blocks. Kenaz Jackson added 18 points while Hazelett was also in double figures with 10 points.

Jackson, who missed the start of the season with a foot injury, displayed his knack for scoring inside, outside and off the dribble, proving once again the offensive versatility and spark he provides.

“He makes all of our jobs so much easier,” Williams said of Jackson. “He can (score) at all three levels, plays great defense and makes my job easier.”

Cedric Terrell III added nine points while Myair Thompson had seven, leaving the Kays’ starting lineup responsible for 100% of Friday’s offensive production. Friday’s game was the end of a big day for Thompson, who committed to Southwestern Michigan College earlier in the day.

“I’m happy for him because he’s a kid who’s worked hard from Day 1,” Pickett said. “They’ve all been together since what, at least third or fourth grade, and the other guys always got a little bit more hoopla. It didn’t deter him. He just continued to work and work.

“His freshman and sophomore years, and I’m not just saying this to make him sound good, but he was really the first one in and last one out of the gym daily. It’s worked out for him.”

The Kays travel to Oak Lawn Sunday to square off against Mount Carmel before they can clinch at least a share of the Southland when they visit Crete-Monee on Tuesday.