CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Kenwood girls basketball entered Friday’s District 10-AAA home matchup with Rossview missing its first-year head coach Shameca Gardner, as well as three players.
With only six players active, Lady Knights assistant coach Tiffany Leavell was forced to play her starters for the entirety of the contest. Rossview won 50-26.
“We had some players out unfortunately,” Leavell said. “We did what we could with the players that we had. They did everything they could until they kind of got tired in the second half. We’re definitely looking forward to our missing girls coming back.”
Despite being extremely short-handed, Kenwood led 9-6 after the opening quarter.
“We still had our legs, we were communicating and our defense was working really good,” Leavell said of her team’s start.
The Lady Hawks later ramped up the pressure on the defensive end, forcing the Lady Knights into multiple turnovers and bad shots throughout.
“When we played with energy I liked our defense,” said Rossview girls basketball coach Justin Woods. “We’re not a big basketball team, so we have to box out and limit teams to one shot. We’re struggling to do that right now.”
Key players
Rossview also had difficulties getting the ball inside to one of their top-scorers Sydney-james Desroches.
Woods believes his team needs to get better with the entry pass and also not try and force-feed the forward if she’s not open.
“We have to have better ball movement and pass fakes,” Woods said. “We also need to be patient with it. Against zones you have to reverse the ball and sometimes we get stuck on one side.”
Lady Hawk senior Chelsea Williams has been lethal from behind the arc during her high school tenure. She showed off her limitless range yet again on Friday, connecting on five three-pointers.
“She’s definitely stepped up as a leader,” Woods said. “She’s been vocal and she’s someone that we count on to make those shots. She’s starting to play really well for us.”
Desroches led all scorers with 19 points followed by Williams with 16 points.
Tamaria Arnold finished with a team-high nine points while Iyanna Curtis chipped in six points for the Lady Knights.
Rossview will hit the road for its next game Friday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. for a meeting with district-foe Northwest.
Kenwood will look to regroup before traveling to take on Montgomery Central Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 6 p.m.