Published: January 08, 2008 11:51 pm            

Wildkats shut down Bronchos

Drake, Ackison combine for 39 points as Kokomo cruises

An impressive team effort keyed by senior guard Kelcey Ackison’s career-high 16 points helped the Kokomo Lady Wildkats defeat the visiting Lafayette Jeff Lady Bronchos 75-59 in girls basketball action at Memorial Gymnasium Tuesday night.

The Lady Kats, winners of three straight games since mid-December, improved to 9-4 overall with the victory. The hosts shot 58 percent from the floor and connected on 8 or 13 three point shots for 62 percent while holding the Lady Bronchos to just 31 percent shooting overall as Lafayette Jeff fell to 7-8 with the loss.

“We have really been trying to focus on a total team effort and [Tuesday] we had all five girls on the floor at any given time working together,” said Kokomo coach Jason Snyder. “On defense we shut down their penetration and forced them to shoot outside and on offense we passed up a lot of good shots in order to get great shots. We will only be successful if we work together.”

Kokomo jumped out early to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game and the Lady Bronchos were never able to catch up. The Lady Kats led 17-10 after one and built the lead to 36-19 by the half. In the first 16 minutes of the game, Kokomo dished out 10 assists, while not allowing the Lady Bronchos to convert a single pass that led to a field goal.

In the third quarter, the Kokomo’s lead continued to increase and the Lady Kats pushed the advantage to 55-37 with eight minutes left. In the final stanza, Kokomo led by as many as 23 points at 67-44 before Snyder began to substitute freely in the final four minutes.

Ackison’s career scoring night scoring also included six rebounds and a game-high eight assists. The senior guard sank 6 of 7 shots from the floor and 4 of 5 three-pointers as the Lady Bronchos concentrated their defensive effort on Lady Kats leading scorer Kayla Drake.

“We talk to the girls in practice about being able to step up and Kelcey took that advice to heart tonight,” said Snyder. “When a team takes one of our players away, we must have someone else to take their place and tonight it worked out well with Kelcey’s total floor effort.”

While Jeff tried to contain Drake, the senior guard, who had scored 26 points in the Lady Kats’ two previous games against Peru and Richmond, still managed to lead Kokomo with 23 points on a variety of inside and outside looks. Aelleon Woodard and Shakeeta Cotton each added eight points and Woodard pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

Lafayette Jeff’s talented duo of point guard Brandi Richardson and forward Charae Richardson led the Lady Bronchos with 17 points each. However, the Lady Kats’ defense made them earn their points as the Richardsons combined to hit only 11 of 40 shots between them in the contest.

Kokomo returns to action on Saturday afternoon when the Lady Kats host North Central Conference opponent New Castle.

        

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