Turnovers end title hopes for Eagles
January 5, 2009
By Christopher Huber
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Issaquah senior forward Alexa Smith goes up for a shot in the second half of the title game of the BCC Christmas Classic against Kennedy High School. By Christopher Huber
The bodies were flying Dec. 30 at the Les Schwab BCC Christmas Classic girls basketball final.
The Kennedy Lancers, of Burien, and the Issaquah High School Eagles duked it out for the entire 32 minutes to decide who would take the top spot in the winter break tournament at Bellevue Community College.
“We just didn’t finish,” Issaquah coach Kathy Gibson said.
Kennedy (6-0) outlasted Issaquah 58-52 in an all-out battle that ended up being about who committed the fewest turnovers.
“Twenty-seven turnovers,” Gibson said. “If you turn it over 27 times, that takes away quite a few shot opportunities.”
Issaquah’s turnovers led to 24 Lancer points. Kennedy gave up just nine points on 18 turnovers.
Members of both teams spent an equal amount of time on the floor, scrambling for loose balls, as they did at the foul line. Each team had 22 personal fouls in the end.
“I always tell the girls, ‘If there’s a loose ball on the floor, you better be on top of it,’” said Kennedy coach Tom Mummert. “They’re playing hard and are determined to get every loose ball that they can.”
Both teams played fast-paced hoops, but from the onset, the Lancers’ physical play helped them to get out to an 18-9 first-quarter lead. They never looked back.
The Lady Eagles had trouble containing Kennedy’s quick ball movement and scrappy defense, but stayed close throughout. Issaquah trailed just 27-22 at halftime.
The girls nearly staged a comeback in the third quarter, when they got to within two points with less than two minutes to go. But the Lancers’ feistiness proved too much for the Lady Eagles. Issaquah couldn’t control the ball down the stretch, despite Kennedy’s biggest defensive threat, Aminah Williams, fouling out.
“We succumbed to their pressure more than we wanted to. We knew coming in that they were really quick and really athletic,” Issaquah senior guard Erin Nicol said after the game. “I think that a couple of times, we would get flustered and it would carry on for more than one play, when we should have realized our mistake and changed it.
“You can’t do it with a team as athletic as that, because they’ll eat you alive.”
Issaquah, ranked ninth in 4A, shot just under 34 percent from the field and Kennedy, the top team in Class 3A, shot 33 percent.
Kennedy’s Daidra Brown finished with 13 points, while teammates Yaz Fuller and Williams each had 12. Williams also pulled down 11 rebounds.
Issaquah’s Maddey Pflaumer finished with eight points, but out-rebounded Williams with 15 of her own. Nicol led scorers with 19 points, and shot 7-for-9 from the free throw line.
After the Lancers received the tournament’s first-place trophy, Mummert admitted Issaquah gave the team a run for its money.
“This was really our first test that we’ve had this year,” he said. “I knew it would be a tough game for us, simply because of who we were playing and who we were coaching against.
She “always has her kids ready to go,” he said of Gibson.
Reach Reporter Christopher Huber at 392-6434, ext. 242, or chuber@isspress.com. Comment on this story at www.issaquahpress.com.
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