Lady Cardinals steamroll Kennedy-King
PARK HILLS – For the first six minutes of the game, it appeared to be a tight contest between the Mineral Area Lady Cardinals and the Kennedy-King Statesmen, but a 17-3 run by the Lady Cardinals to close out the first quarter, set the tone as they rolled to a lopsided 103-72 victory for their 10th straight win.
Hayley Winter drilled two threes in the early going and added a free throw to score seven of Mineral Area’s first 10 points, but Kennedy-Kings’ Rashawanda Rogers scored eight for the Statesmen to record the only tie of the game at 10-10.
A timed pass by Laura Dick to Winter, breaking through the key under the basket, resulted in a 16-13 lead and two straight time-outs by the Statesmen.
Mineral Area gained separation in the final minutes of the quarter scoring off of turnovers by Kennedy-King (11-8) and aided by three baskets from Janekia Mason. Mason scored eight of her game’s 14 in the first quarter.
Winter opened the second quarter with a baseline drive for two to start a 15-5 run. Three pointers by Weronika Dabrowska and Dick helped bolster the run.
The Lady Cardinals pushed the ball upcourt to score in transition during the quarter. Dabrowska scored her second three and would be one of five Lady Cardinals to score in double-digits with 12 points with 13 players contributing to the final score.
Mineral Area scored on each of its last 10 possessions of the half to finish, as the Lady Cardinals shot 70 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes for a 64-35 halftime.
The Lady Cardinals continued to outscore the Statesmen 2-1 in the third quarter. Winter connected twice from downtown to finish with a team-high 17 points, all in the first three quarters. Kourtney Kekec drilled her second three of the game as the Lady Cardinals scored a 15-3 run to start the third.
Josie Long scored two in the paint to cap off her game’s 10 points. Rafaelia Angelidou scored eight in the quarter to lead the reserves with 14 points. Mineral Area’s bench accounted for 49 points in the game. The Lady Cardinals held a 93-51 lead going into the fourth quarter as their starters sat out the last 10 minutes.
Kennedy-King scored their only 20-point quarter in the fourth as Jacqueline Arnold scored seven and Tashawn Ducker and Rogers each scored five. Rogers led all players in the game with 26 points and also in rebounding with 12 boards, and Arnold and Ducker finished with 19 each.
Mineral Area (12-3) will travel on Saturday to play Crowder in a Region 16 game.
After making a steal on the other end, Hayley Winter (5) drives in for two points in the first quarter. Winter led Mineral Area in scoring with 17 points.
Mineral Area’s Hannah Taulien (15) scores two in the second quarter for the Lady Cardinals scored six and pulled down five rebounds from off the bench.
Danielle Hamilton (10) goes up with a shot to score two in the second quarter for Mineral Area.
