Published: December 11, 2007 11:10 pm            

GIRLS BBALL: No. 4 Carmel beats Kokomo in OT

Carmel takes over in bonus session as Kokomo goes cold

The Kokomo Lady Kats had the Class 4A No. 4-ranked Carmel Lady Greyhounds right where they wanted them Tuesday night at Memorial Gym.

With the score tied 37-37, the Kats had possession of the ball with a chance to win. Kokomo appeared to take the lead with 13 seconds to play when senior guard Kayla Drake, who led all scorers with 15 points on the night, penetrated the left side of the lane, drew the defense to her, and dished to an open Kelly Hopkins underneath the basket. But as Hopkins went up to can the layup that would put the Kats ahead with just seconds left, a whistle stopped play and Drake was called for a controversial charging foul.

Although Kokomo stepped up and played tough defense to send the game into overtime, Carmel (8-1) was able to regroup and pull out a 44-38 win over the obviously deflated Kats (6-3).

Aelleon Woodard gave Kokomo its only lead in OT as she hit one of two from the line to make it 38-37. But the Greyhounds’ Torrie Thornton answered with a basket to put Carmel up 39-38, and the visitors never trailed again.

Kokomo had a chance to retake the lead but missed two free throws at the 2:27 mark. The Greyhounds were able to spread the floor and force the Kats to foul. Carmel hit only 5 of 8 from the charity stripe down the stretch, but that was enough as Kokomo couldn’t connect and the Greyhounds controlled the boards.

The Carmel win spoiled a strong second half effort by the Kats. Trailing 21-16 at intermission, Kokomo took control in the third period, outscoring the Greyhounds 17-5 to take a 33-26 lead at the end of the frame. But the Kats could manage just four points in the fourth, all by Drake, while the Greyhounds found the range with a key 3-pointer by Maggie Byrne with 2:35 to play to cut the lead to 37-33. Drake missed the front end of a one-and-one free-throw chance, and Thornton put back a miss by Chrissy Steffen to narrow the gap to two.

After a Kokomo turnover, Danielle Havel nailed two from the line to tie it 37-37 and set up the finish — a heartbreaker for the Kats and a narrow escape for the Greyhounds.

“We played a great third quarter,” Kokomo coach Jason Snyder said. “I think after halftime we started to make a little turn on how we can play basketball as a group, defensively and offensively. Scoring 17 points against a very strong defensive group [Carmel] that tries to trap and pressure, which has been a weakness of ours in the past, I thought we made it a strength [Tuesday].”

Greyhound coach Scott Bowen was glad to escape with a win.

“You come here with the tradition Kokomo’s got,” he said, “and coach Snyder does a great job with his kids. They had a great plan defensively and we had a tough time finding good shots. All the credit to them, and credit to our kids for staying in there and battling back. It’s a good win for us.”

The first quarter was a close affair with Drake nailing a pair of treys for the Kats and Steffen matching her with two 3’s of her own as Kokomo led 10-9 at the first stop. The Greyhounds got balanced scoring in the second stanza as five players scored. Kokomo managed only four points from Hopkins and two from Drake as Carmel took a 21-16 lead.

Snyder praised several Kats, including forward Woodard, who had a game-high nine rebounds, guard Kelcey Ackison, who handled Carmel’s pressure and dished five assists, and forward Shakeeta Cotton, who played a good floor game against the Greyhounds. Katie Zunick contributed key minutes off the bench when Woodard and Hopkins got in foul trouble.

Carmel was paced by Steffen with 13 points and Havel, who scored 10 and grabbed five boards.

Kokomo resumes its North Central Conference schedule as they play at Marion on Saturday. Snyder noted that the two teams know each other very well and he expects a close, hard-fought contest.

        

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