AUGUSTA, Maine — Narraguagus High School of Harrington senior center Kelli Kennedy had a quiet first half as the much taller Boothbay Region High School Seahawks held her to three points in the Class C schoolgirl state championship game at the Augusta Civic Center Saturday night.
But the 5-foot-11 Kennedy erupted for 17 second-half points, including eight in a row to turn a two-point deficit into a 28-20 lead, and the Knights went on to win their school’s first basketball championship 33-25.
“They went man-to-man once we got ahead and when I knew that, I knew I had a lane (to the basket) and I had to take it for my team,” said Kennedy. “If I got my first step, I had to take it to the basket. I was hoping to get fouled or that I made the shot.”
“Once you get her the ball in the post, it’s her game,” said Narraguagus coach Heather Thompson. “We ran an overload and worked the ball around the 3-point arc until we got it into her.”
Kennedy did an exceptional job penetrating the paint or hitting pull-up jumpers, going 7-for-10 from the floor in the second half.
Kennedy also finished with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Cassidy Osgood had a game-high 11 rebounds for the 19-2 winners to go with her five points. Emily Reynolds had four points, four steals and four rebounds.
Freshman Faith Blethen had nine points and six rebounds to lead the 20-2 Seahawks. Hannah Morley, their lone senior, had six points and three rebounds and Kate Friant and Page Brown had four points apiece. Friant had four assists and two steals.
The Bates College-bound Kennedy hit a foul shot to close out the scoring in the third quarter and trigger her eight-point flurry. That pulled the Knights within 22-21.
Kayla Toppin fed her at the right elbow and she nailed a nine-foot jumper to open the fourth quarter and then knifed her way through the defense to convert in-close and make it 25-22.
Kennedy capped the flurry by taking the ball down the middle of the lane and getting the roll on a five-footer while being fouled. She sank the foul shot to make it 28-22 with 3:24 left.
Friant nailed a 3-pointer off a Morley pass with 3:10 left but that would be the cold-shooting Seahawks’ only basket of the quarter as they went 1-for-14 from the floor.
Kennedy restored the five-point lead with a penetrating move and short jumper and she blocked a shot for good measure before an Emily Reynolds steal and free throw with 1:22 left extended the lead.
Kennedy and Reynolds added a free throw apiece to sew it up.
“They had an amazing offense in the second half. Kelli Kennedy went off,” said Boothbay Region sophomore forward Brown. “We just couldn’t get our shots to fall. It was a bad game to have that happen in.”
The Seahawk starters were, on the average, four inches taller than their Narraguagus counterparts.
But the more experienced Knights used their tenacity and superior quickness to outrebound the Seahawks 29-15.
“We knew it would come down to rebounding and boxing out. We also had to limit our turnovers. Our girls played their hearts out and that’s what won the game,” said Thompson who used three different zones to try to combat Boothbay Region’s inside game.
Reynolds said the Seahawks hadn’t taken a lot of outside shots in the C South tournament so they could concentrate more on shutting down their inside game.
“Our guards are really fast and they’re great defenders,” said Reynolds referring to the 5-foot-2 Reynolds and Madison Leighton.