By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– Kennedy came out in the third quarter a little more focused and a little cautious of the details in what would be their 60-31 win over Chemawa Tuesday night.
The Lady Braves, playing in their final 2024 game of the year before going on Winter Break, had put some pressure on the Trojans as thry rallied from 22-9 down to make it 22-14 two minutes into the second frame. Chemawa hung around as they trailed their Tri-River Conference foe 31-21 at the halftime break.
“It was a lot better than a lot of our other games, we’ve just improved a lot more. For me, it was good, I felt determined,” said the Braves Piper Lockwood.
That second quarter was a challenge that Kennedg accepted as they pushed their lead to 50-29 by the end of the third quarter.
It was the encouragement by Trojan Head Coach Michael Smith during halftime that helped Kennedy settle back in when they needed it the most and to put an end to the Chemawa rally.
“Our coach was hyping us up to find our person, we need to show that we can go out to the court and do what exactly what he says,” said Kennedy’s Jissel Garza. “Just talking to each other and knowing that we got leaders on this team that will keep us in check.”
Their communication has came a long way points Garza compared to last year and will continue to be a area of focus for them moving forward as they finished off their fourth victory of the season and to improve to 2-1 in the season.
Garza led Kennedy with 22 points, and Kendall Ifenuk added another 14 for the Trojans, who will play at Triangle Lake on Friday.
Lockwood led the Braves with 14 points, and Tyshaya Foster contributed another eight. Chemawa plays at Western Christian on January 14 after they return from Winter Break
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
