By JOHN LIKANJE
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. – Bishop Kearney used a strong second half to pull away for a 77-45 win over Victor in the quarterfinals of the Section V Class AA playoffs.
“It was physical,” Bishop Kearney head coach Kevan Sheppard said. “It just took us a while to get going defensively. Offensively, we were fine.”
Leading 38-25 at halftime, the Bishop Kearney Lady Kings started the third quarter on an 14-4 run to extend their lead to 52-29. Freshman guard Kaia Goode sparked the surge with a right corner three-pointer and a pair of free throws.
Sophomore forward Taylor Norris made a layup and two free throws. Saniaa Wilson finished a putback layup and knocked down a foul shot. Senior guard Lytoya Baker had a layup of her own. During the run, the Lady Kings held the Victor Lady Blue Devils to five missed field goals and three turnovers in 10 possessions.
“Initially, we was like ‘Don’t let them in the middle, don’t let the shooters shoot,'” Baker explained. “We tried to confuse the offense of the other team. We switch it up so that they (Victor) can’t adjust to it.”
Baker had scored all 23 of her game-high points by the end of the third quarter as the Lady Kings built a 61-36 lead. The senior guard netted 11 points in the opening period, including six straight to start the game.
“Usually, the offense runs through the middle,” Baker said when explaining her performance. “So I catch it, pass it to Saniaa, and cut down to the basket. Either way, it’s two points. If I don’t pass to Saniaa, I pass it to the corner and usually it’s a three.”
Norris netted 14 of her 17 points in the second half in which the Lady Kings outscored the Lady Blue Devils, 39-20.
“Taylor is very efficient,” Sheppard said about his sophomore forward. “Playing next to Saniaa and next to Toya, her man tends to slide over and help a lot. If you leave her open, she’s not going to miss. She’s a very high-percentage shooter and that’s whether she’s in the paint or the perimeter.”
Taylor Norris layup extends @BishopKearneyHS lead over @VictorGRLSbball to 61-36 at the end of the 3rd quarter. @PickinSplinters @SecVGBasketball pic.twitter.com/AUEC08GRzn
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) February 22, 2019
Goode and Wilson each contributed 13 points.
“Offensively, the interior, Toya, Saniaa and Taylor, really carried us the first half,” Sheppard said about the frontcourt of his squad’s starting lineup. “We actually prefer to play that way. It’s easier to make layups and three-pointers. If we’re efficient on the inside, it opens up those outside shots a lot easier. If you let Marianna (Freeman) and Kaia shoot open shots, I like my chances.”
Freeman (8) and Kateri Maurer (3) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Kings.
For the night, the Lady Kings’ largest lead of the game was 35 points. Sheppard’s squad allowed nine points each in the first and fourth quarters. In those periods, the Lady Kings forced the Lady Blue Devils into 25 missed field goals and six turnovers in 39 combined possessions.
“The 2-3 (zone) is really to just conserve energy,” Sheppard explained. “We press a little and then we’ll drop back into a zone. Just try to close out on the shooters. We’re fine with anybody scoring as long as it’s from the perimeter. We don’t really want to give up paint touches.”
For Victor, junior guard Chloe Wittier netted all 12 of her team-high points in the second quarter, including a buzzer-beating left-wing three-pointer to end the period.
Chloe Wittier swishes a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cut @VictorGRLSbball deficit to 38-25 at halftime at @BishopKearneyHS. Wittier had all 12 of her points in the 2nd quarter for the Lady Blue Devils. Lytoya Baker has a game-high 17 for the Lady Kings. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/OrxzSupTUz
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) February 21, 2019
Senior guard Sam White scored seven of her 10 points in the third quarter.
Kaitlin Murphy (7), Emily Power (5), Arabella Doyen (4), Allison Reed (3), Peyton Miles (2) and Rachel Gill (2) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Blue Devils.
Bishop Kearney will play No. 3 seed Edison Tech in the semifinals Wednesday night at 6:00 PM at Gates-Chili High School. Edison defeated Hilton in the quarterfinals Thursday night, 61-52.
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