Tecumseh currently sits atop the Cox Media Group girls basketball D-I power rankings and was riding a six-game winning streak entering the contest.
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So, what was learned in the loss to the Elks?
“That game really helped us because it what showed us we needed to execute better and move the ball more,” Kenton Ridge junior center Mikala Morris said.
Morris delivered for the Cougars again, dropping 23 points and delivering her ninth double-double in 10 games. She came in averaging 23.5 points and 18 rebounds.
The fourth quarter featured four ties and three lead changes as Tecumseh tried to rally, but Morris stabilized the Cougars, delivering 10 points-which included four free-throw makes—five rebounds, in addition to the 6-foot-2 center forcing a crucial jump ball during the period.
“She leads us,” Kenton Ridge coach Matt McCurdy said. “She walks in the gym and gets 23 and 20 a night.”
With his squad going up against two of the top scorers in the league in Corinne Thomas (first in the CBC), who averages 28.1 points per game, and Presley Griffitts (24.1, third in the CBC), McCurdy needed an all-league defensive effort from juniors Mariah Baker and Mallory Armentrout. He got it.
Kenton Ridge limited Thomas to 15 points, and Griffitts to 14.
“Mariah and Mal, holding them to that low a number compared to what they’re averaging, we wouldn’t have been able to pull out this win without them fighting through every thing,” Morris said. “We really we won because of them and their good defense.”
Offensively, Kenton Ridge received scoring help from Desiree Jones, who tallied 14, as well as Kirsten Wiley who scored nine.
Tecumseh opened the game looking the part of the conference’s first-place team, converting five 3-pointers to take a 19-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Tecumseh came in averaging 8.5 3-point makes per contest, but following that stellar first quarter, the Arrows didn’t connect from beyond the arc again until the fourth quarter. They finished with six 3-pointers.
“The dribble drive wasn’t working and you can’t get the shooters the ball because of the way they’re guarding,” Tecumseh coach Danielle Morris said. “ We just weren’t flowing. I saw a lot of standing and late decisions.”
Tecumseh fell to 7-3 (4-1) and trails Shawnee (7-3, 5-1) by a 1/2 game in the CBC’s Kenton Trail Division. Kenton Ridge improved to 7-3 (4-2) and sits in third place.
Morris is hopeful the win can set the tone for the rest of Kenton Ridge’s season.
“I hope this gives us confidence that we can beat anyone if we play that good of defense and have that kind of unselfishness every game,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tecumseh is still well positioned in the division, and Thomas knows there’s still a lot of basketball to be played.
“I mean KR’s kids outplayed us tonight and we’ll get another chance at it at our place.”
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