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 Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Brittney Williams (left) shoots the ball as Charleston's Chelsie Lane guards her during the fourth quarter of Tuesday's Lady Royals Christmas Classic fifth-place semifinal at Broseley. [Click to enlarge] |
* They were coming off of their first loss of the season the previous night to Twin Rivers;
* Kennett needed a win to avoid elimination at the Lady Royals Christmas Classic;
* And if the first two weren't enough, the Lady Tribe was facing Charleston -- the same team that ended Kennett's season last March.
Perhaps that is why Kennett turned in one of its best performances of the season, pulling away late to take a 75-58 win over the Lady Bluejays in the fifth-place semifinals of the LRCC here Tuesday.
"We wanted to play harder than we did yesterday because there was a lot of frustration from losing," junior Jerica Wheeler said. "The first loss is always hard."
Tuesday's win tasted even sweeter when one remembers that Charleston upset the Lady Tribe in the Class 3 District 1 Tournament back in March -- after the Lady Tribe had won a pair of regular-season meetings.
"We were ready to beat them," Kennett junior Caroline Shetley said. "They took us out of the district running, so it felt really good."
However, Kennett coach Casey Bunting was not that concerned about revenge.
"Tonight we were focused on what we need to do to get better," said Bunting. "We've been in a slump the last three games. ... We've won two out of the last three, but we've still not been playing to our potential and not executing things we wanted to work on."
The Lady Indians (9-1) led 34-24 at the break, but Charleston bounced back in the third period to cut the lead to 50-47 entering the final quarter.
That's when Brittney Williams took over.
Williams, Kennett's lone senior starter, scored 21 of the Lady Tribe's 25 points in the final period, including the team's final 15 points of the night as Kennett turned a close game into a rout.
"It was a huge game for Brittney," Bunting said. "She was a senior for us tonight. Not only (with) her scoring, but defensively we counted on her every time to try and get a body on someone -- and she did. All the way around, she did well for us."
Shetley echoed her coach's sentiments.
"Brittney's amazing at post," said Shetley. "She is really strong."
Another key Tuesday was the Lady Tribe's slowdown game and its post play, which kept Charleston's athleticism in check.
"I was really pleased with the way the girls played," Bunting said. "They came out and they knew their goal was to slow the pace of the game down. Charleston is quick and so extremely athletic. We did not want to be in a track meet with them all night."
Bunting credits that slowdown game for helping her squad weather the storm in the third quarter, when the Lady Bluejays cut a 10-point lead to just three.
"I think the tempo that we played kind of defused their spark a little bit," said Bunting. "Charleston is so fast and they can move the ball so well. We did not want to run with them all night."
Veronica Amos had a huge game of her own Tuesday, scoring 25 points to share the team lead with Williams, while Alexandra Brown finished with 10 for the Lady Tribe.
Jerquawnda Sherrell led Charleston with a game-high 27 points -- including eight 3-pointers -- while Kasuela Cooper added 12 in the loss.
Kennett will face Naylor for fifth place at the tournament today at 4:30 p.m. Naylor reached the fifth-place game with a 64-53 win over New Madrid County Central.
"We're excited to play a ballclub that's considered really good," Wheeler said. "It'll be a great time for us to see how good we really are and how hard we can really work."
Lady Lions reach consolation final
One day after scoring 33 points in the Lady Lions' win over Clearwater, Seleena Neal scored a game-high 29 points on Tuesday to lead Senath-Hornersville past Doniphan 67-51 and into the consolation championship game.
The Lady Lions (5-5) led 31-25 at the half, but outscored the Donettes 19-11 in the third quarter behind 10 from Neal to take a 50-36 lead to the final period.
The trio of McKenzie Harris, Randa Jarred and Hannah Kennedy each added nine points for Senath-Hornersville, who plays Greenville in today's consolation final at 3 p.m.