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Kennett girls basketball drops conference affair to Notre Dame 54-23
Kennett freshman center Ara Spielman (right) is guarded by Notre Dame junior Jennifer Le in a varsity girls basketball game Monday night at Kennett.
KENNETT, Mo. - The Kennett Indians varsity girls basketball team enjoyed a 4-2 lead three minutes into the first quarter but struggled for offense the rest of the way against the visiting Notre Dame Bulldogs Monday night.
Notre Dame followed with 21 unanswered points to build a 23-4 lead with a couple minutes before halftime and led by double digits the rest of the way as it won at Kennett 54-23.
“We had a decent first quarter defensively,” Kennett coach Kevin McCaig said. “We came out with good effort and we were blocking out, rebounding, and contesting shots. But we struggled to get shots off against their defense. Notre Dame plays hard defensively and we are timid and pass up open shots. Then in the second quarter, we didn’t score in the first six minutes, 48 seconds. We are still working on the concept of continuing to play hard when teams go on runs. I thought we stopped playing hard in the second quarter tonight.”
Notre Dame, which knocked down only four shots in the first quarter, led by just five points at 9-4 at the start of the second period. The Bulldogs pressure defense became a catalyst for its offense in the second period. Notre Dame recorded multiple transition buckets off of steals and allowed just one field goal in the final eight minutes of the first half.
“I thought both teams played well defensively,” Notre Dame coach Kirk Boeller said. “Kennett did a really good job of getting us in a funk in the first quarter where we couldn’t even get shots off when we were in half-court sets. Then our defense helped our offense pick things up in the second quarter.”
Notre Dame enjoyed a 27-9 lead by halftime and increased its lead to 54-15 by the start of the fourth quarter.
Perimeter shooting helped Notre Dame pad its lead. Megan Heisserer, who finished with a team-high 20 points, knocked down five of Notre Dame’s seven treys. Julia Williams, who added 14 points, hit Notre Dame’s other two 3-pointers.
“We really haven’t shot the ball well this year,” Boeller said. “I know we took a whole bunch of attempts tonight. I’m not sure percentage-wise how well we shot it but we made seven and that’s probably the highest number of 3-pointers we’ve made this year. Hopefully, we can start scoring and get our offense at the same level as our defense. It was encouraging to see us make seven 3-pointers tonight.”
Freshmen Caroline Patton and Kyra Jaco paced Kennett with five points each.
Notre Dame improves to 3-0 and Kennett drops to 0-3 in SEMO Conference regular season play.
Notre Dame (11-3) hosts Jackson in another conference matchup Thursday. Notre Dame beat Jackson 53-35 in the first meeting between the two squads Dec. 17.
“It should be a good game,” Boeller said. “They will be ready to go and we will be ready to go. It’s always a fun crosstown rivalry. Jackson has a couple players that can really play. They’ve also got a couple girls we are a foot shorter than so it will be an interesting game to watch.”
Kennett (5-11) hosts Twin Rivers Thursday. Kennett beat Twin Rivers 63-47 Dec. 15.
“Coach Crockett is working hard with those girls over there,” McCaig said. “We beat them in their Christmas Tournament and they are going to want to come and get a little revenge here. We are going to have to come out and match their intensity, take care of the basketball, and make layups and free throws when given the opportunity to shoot them.”
Notre Dame 54, Kennett 23
NDS 9 19 26 0 - 54
KHS 4 5 6 8 - 23
NOTRE DAME (54) - Julia Williams 14, Emily Kellum 4, Bailey Bussing 2, Megan Heisserer 20, Jennifer Le 2, Riley Burger 9, Lexi Rubel 3. FG 19, FT 9/21, F 8. (3-pointers: Wiliams 2, Heisserer 5; Fouled out: None).
KENNETT (23) - Camille Thomas 4, Mallory Morrow 2, Antonia Randle 3, Kaniya Madlock 2, Caroline Patton 5, Kyra Jaco 5, Adelynn Nelson 2. FG 10, FT 2/5, F 15. (3-pointers: Jaco 1; Fouled out: None).