Published: December 04, 2007 10:38 pm            

GIRLS BBALL: Kokomo holds off Western

Kats grab 10-point victory

Kokomo girls basketball coach Jason Snyder didn’t like what he was seeing at the start of the fourth quarter of his team’s game against Western Tuesday night. He sure liked what he saw at the end though.

The Wildkats withstood a furious rally by the Panthers in Memorial Gym, holding the visitors scoreless in the final two minutes to post a 54-44 victory.

Western, which trailed by 24 points in the first half, trimmed the lead to 48-44 heading into the final minutes with a barrage of 3-point buckets, but Kokomo held firm after that. The Kats didn’t allow another Panther point and hit 6-of-8 free throws after that point to push the visitors back.

“That’s a very good, very talented team,” Snyder said of Western. “They were able to knock down a lot of outside shots and you start trading three points for two on our end and that doesn’t turn out well.

“I was very pleased that we took a step forward in finishing games — being able to handle the ball without turning it over, being able to knock down free throws,” Snyder said.

Shakeeta Cotton hit four straight freebies in the final two minutes before missing two with the lead secure, and Kelcey Ackison closed the scoring with two from the stripe.

“It’s a skill, being able to extend the lead, and I think the girls did a nice job,” Snyder said.

The Kats moved to 6-1 with the victory. Western fell to 2-6.

Kokomo jumped ahead quickly, scoring the game’s first six points. Holding a 10-5 lead in the first quarter, the Kats embarked on a 19-0 run which pushed the advantage to 29-5 midway through the second quarter. A 9-0 run by Western gave the visitors a little life heading into halftime, with the score 30-14 for Kokomo.

After the break, Western trimmed another two points off the lead in the third quarter to cut the margin to two touchdowns at 41-27. Then the Panthers erupted. Brooke Jackson hit two treys and A.J. Finch iced a third as Western rallied with a quick 9-0 barrage. In six minutes, the Panthers hit five treys and a driving deuce to trim Kokomo’s lead to just 48-44.

“We had a little heart-to-heart at halftime,” Western coach Steve Hoppes said. “We talked again about pride, we talked about not being intimidated, and we talked about playing our game, which is getting up and down the court, take the shot, and hit the boards.

“We’re a 3-point shooting team. We’re going to live and die with the 3-pointer to get us back in games, because we’re not the biggest in the world.”

Kokomo’s response to Western’s late charge was to pull the ball out on offense, burn some clock, and clamp down defensively. Snyder said a defensive adjustment helped Kokomo stymie Western in the final minutes, and credited the Kats for keeping cool down the stretch.

“When we have a little bit of adversity and they’re knocking down shots and they get a little bit closer, the girls continue to be solid and they’re ready to accept the challenge,” he said. “I think they show a lot of heart during those times of adversity.”

Snyder praised his squad’s defensive effort, especially in the first half when Western hit on just 4-of-20 shots including 2-of-13 from 3-point land. On the other side, Hoppes felt the Panthers dug too deep a hole, after doing the same thing in a loss to Taylor last weekend.

“We’re a good ball club,” Hoppes said. “We’ve got to play the full game. If we play the full game, I think we can play with a lot of people.

“Effort and heart is there, it’s just we’ve got to start sooner.”

Kokomo spread the wealth in jumping out to a big lead as six Kats scored in the first quarter. Forward Aelleon Woodard paced Kokomo, scoring 15 points and grabbing seven rebounds in a busy and efficient effort. She connected on 6 of 8 shots from the field and had five offensive rebounds.

Kayla Drake added 11 points and six boards and Kelly Hopkins scored eight and took seven boards. Abby Hemmeger came off the bench for six points. Drake dished out five assists, Ackison three and Hemmeger two. Kokomo’s transition game was productive, producing 16 points on the break.

“Aelleon Woodard did a great job getting us started in the post and we made some great passes in to her,” Snyder said. “The perimeter players are doing a nice job of moving the ball. Abby Hemmeger came in and played some big minutes defensively and is becoming a much more solid player. Kayla gets a quiet 11 but just handles the ball and does everything else for us. Kelcey Ackison does a nice job with all the (defensive) pressure in the world on her all the time, bringing the ball up and running the offense.”

Jackson finished with 16 points for the Panthers, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Brooke Lewis and Heather Power had eight each and Finch seven. Finch led the Panthers with six boards and three assists.

        

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