MANSFIELD —
Two words: too much.
Kerens turned on the jets, the defense, the afterburners in the second half to run away from Lindsay, 66-43, in the Region II-1A Division I quarterfinals Tuesday night in Mansfield.
Six LadyCats found the scoreboard, all with at least nine points, and they held the Lady Knights (19-13) to 30 percent shooting, all while forcing 26 turnovers.
“The one thing we said at halftime was to keep pushing,” said Denise Lincoln, who has guided Kerens to a personal best 28 wins this season, against eight losses. The LadyCats move on to face the Windthorst-Goldthwaite winner at the Region II tournament in Abilene Friday.
The LadyCats quit pushing, Lincoln said, when Lindsay erased a 15-5 first-period deficit and pulled to within five at the break with a 10-5 run in the final three and a half minutes.
But Kerens had too much guard play, and too much inside presence to be denied.
After Hayley Skinner’s three-pointer with 6:30 left in the third made it 32-30, it was all Kerens the rest of the way. Lillian Roberts started a 17-4 run down the stretch of the third with a layup and free throw to make it 35-30, then Breanna Wells had eight of her game-high 16 as the lead grew to 49-32 before Lindsay scored in the final half-minute.
In the fourth period, Lindsay was 1 of 10 from the field, while Kerens led by as many as 24 when Roberts – who had 13 points, and played her heart out, Lincoln said – nailed a three-pointer from the left wing with 1:24 left.
Wells, Marqueshia Kelly (10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 4 assists) and Carly Commiato (9 points, 11 rebounds) controlled the paint.
“That’s the best game I have ever seen (Commiato) play,” Lincoln said.
She then praised Kelly, a 5-10 sophomore who four times gave up the ball within five feet of the basket to an open teammate for easy layups, three times to Wells.
“A lot of people don’t see the little things (Kelly) does,” Lincoln said. “She’s not selfish. She loves assists.”
Sophomore guards Cambree Betts and Taylor Ames each added nine.
It’s a return appearance in Abilene for the LadyCats, who beat No. 1 Goldthwaite in the semifinals before losing to Muenster in the finals last year.
Lincoln does not expect a repeat falter.
“If we play, we’ll win,” she said. “We can play with the best of them when we play hard and get after it.”
Kerens 66, Lindsay 43
Lindsay 5 20 9 9 – 43
Kerens 15 15 19 17 – 66
Lindsay – Hayley Skinner 6, Megan Caillier 10, Jordan Fleitman 5, Hannah Zimmerer 1, Sydney Ott 10, Taylor Atkins 10, Jalyn Anderle 1.
Kerens –Marqueshia Kelly 10, Carly Commiato 9, Cambree Betts 9, Lillian Roberts 13, Taylor Ames 9, Breanna Wells 16.
Records – Lindsay 19-13, Kerens 28-8.
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