Published: January 02, 2009 12:31 am      

Lady Bobcats win fourth straight Kiwanis title

Kerens battles by Wortham, 63-54

The Kerens Lady Bobcats continued their domination at the Kiwanis Classic Tournament Wednesday, defeating Wortham 63-54 to win their fourth consecutive title.

Kerens’ Michell Jordan, who scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

It was the aggressive press of Kerens which was able to disrupt the offense of Wortham early, allowing the Lady Bobcats to take a 14-7 first quarter edge.

Just as effective defensively for the Lady Bobcats in the first was the presence of sophomore Anna Keele.

Keele didn’t allow Wortham many easy looks, blocking three shots in the opening quarter.

She finished the game with an impressive seven total blocks.

Wortham was able to shrug off the rough start in the second, scoring four quick points and a Kara Jantzen three-pointer followed to tie the game.

But Kerens (12-6, 2-0 District 14-2A) would not allow the Lady Bulldogs to get in front, outscoring Wortham 17-8 the rest of the half to take a nine point halftime advantage.

Both teams had to deal with losing a key player in the first minute of the second half.

For Wortham, it was the loss of Lauren Libhart, who picked up her fifth foul early on.

For Kerens, it was guard Tambreshia Polk, who had to leave the game with a broken finger.

But Wortham had plenty of opportunities to catch the Lady Bobcats at the free throw line in the third, but was only able to sink 3 of 17 attempts.

“We want to keep the other team running,” Kerens coach Denise Lincoln said. “That way when they step up to the free throw line, their legs are going to be a little bit weaker, making it harder for them to make a shot.”

The fouls pilled up for both teams throughout the game as the two squads combined to commit 54 fouls.

BreAnna Lawrence kept Kerens moving with a three-pointer early in the third quarter, adding five additional points to put Kerens ahead 49-32 going into the final quarter.

Jantzen opened the fourth quarter with her second three-pointer of the night.

Ki’undra Smith and Jasmine Bailey also picked up the pace for the Lady Bulldogs in the fourth, scoring six points apiece.

But Lawrence responded for Kerens, hitting a dagger from beyond the arc to push Kerens ahead 61-48 with three minutes to go.

“We just did what we do in practice,” Lawrence said. “We played well together mainly and that helped a lot.”

Wortham (9-6) was unable to get within 10 points until Bailey’s final shot to end the game.

“I feel like I didn’t do a very good job coaching in this game,” Wortham coach Anthony Branch said. “We probably stayed in our press to long instead of switching to a man defense earlier.

“I will take the blame for this loss.”

Lawrence led the Lady Bobcats with 15 points while Nicole Kelm and Keele each finished with eight points.

Lawrence and Keele were both named to the All-Tournament team.

Jantzen had 15 points to lead Wortham and Anna Jones added 13 in Wortham’s second place finish.

Jones, Jantzen and Cara Weempe were named All-Tournament selections for Wortham.



Championship Game

Kerens 63, Wortham 54

Kerens 14 17 18 14 — 63

Wortham 7 15 10 22 — 54



Kerens: BreAnna Lawrence 15, Michell Jordan 12, Anna Keele 8, Nicole Kelm 8, Carly Commiato 6, Taneque Williams 5, Abbigal Mountford 4, Jacie Tolliver 4, Tambreshia Polk 1.

Wortham: Kara Jantzen 15, Anna Jones 13, Ki’undra Smith 9, Jasmine Bailey 8, Chey Anne Bates 6, Cara Weempe 3.

Records: Kerens (12-6, 2-0); Wortham (9-6).



GIRLS

MVP

Michell Jordan, Kerens



ALL-TOURNAMENT

BreAnna Lawrence, Kerens

Kara Jantzen, Wortham

Anna Jones, Wortham

Cara Weempe, Wortham

Anna Keele, Kerens