Published: November 24, 2007 11:30 pm            

GIRLS BBALL: Landing on their feet

Wildkats win opening game on NCC schedule

The Kokomo Lady Wildkats lost the better part of a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, yet managed to hang on to defeat the visiting Muncie Central Lady Bearcats by a final count of 52-48 Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.

In the North Central Conference opener for both squads, Kokomo improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in loop play, while Central was sent to its first defeat in four games this season.

“I want to stress that it is nice to get a good conference win against a good team (Muncie Central) that stepped up and hit some big shots down the stretch,” said Kokomo coach Jason Snyder. “They are a much-improved team with some good young players and they have the ability to win some conference games this year.”

Some of the those big shots by the Lady Bearcats began to fall when Kokomo seemed to be in a good position, leading 42-30 with just over six minutes left in the game. Muncie Central point guard Dimon Price hit a three-point shot from the top of the key to reduce the lead to nine and after Kokomo turned the ball over in the back court, Price again hit a trey to trim the lead to 42-36 at the 5:34 mark.

Snyder then opted to call timeout, but the break did not seem to slow down the Muncie Central momentum. Over the next three minutes, the Lady Bearcats outscored Kokomo 7-2 to close the gap to a single point at 44-43 with 2:38 remaining in the contest.

Senior reserve Katie Zunick would then respond for Kokomo and score five straight points on a three-point play and a layup before starting forward Aelleon Woodard capped the Kokomo finish with a basket and one free throw to preserve the victory.

“I told the girls that we would have to withstand their highs and they had one the last six minutes of the game,” said Snyder. “They had all the same players in the fourth quarter they had played the first three quarters but those same players started making plays.”

After a very tightly played first quarter, Kokomo went on a 10-3 run early in the second quarter and finished off the half leading 26-20. The Lady Kats got a scare at the 2:42 mark of the second quarter when guard Kayla Drake took a hard fall and hit her head on the floor. Drake was taken to the locker room but did return at the 1:34 mark of the third quarter. Snyder commented that Drake was checked and cleared to return to the contest.

Woodard finished with a career-high 15 points for Kokomo and freshman center Kelly Hopkins recorded a double-double by scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. With Drake out of the Kokomo lineup for an extended time period, Abby Hemminger responded to the additional court time and tallied 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

Rodneka Price led Muncie Central with 14 points and Dimon Price was next with 11.

The Lady Kats return NCC play Saturday at Logansport.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.