***William Ly is a participant of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.
This past Thursday, the Kewanee Girls Basketball team hosted the Erie-Prophetstown Lady Panthers for their sixth conference match. This match decided whether Kewanee would stay in third place or climb to second. After four quarters of intense play, the Boiler Girls won 35-22.
Currently, Kewanee is second in their conference with a 5-1. Princeton, also 5-1, sits in first place thanks to the Lady Tigers’ win over Kewanee.
Before the game started, KHS celebrated senior Mya Dearing in a pre-game ceremony. The weekend before, Dearing reached the coveted 1000-point milestone in her career. This accomplishment is a showcase of the hard work and dedication she has put into the program.
After the ceremony, the game started as usual. Both teams went back and forth, with no team wanting to give up the first basket.
After two minutes, sophomore Damaris Diaz poked the ball on a pass to give Kewanee a chance at a fast break. Coincidentally, the ball fell into the hands of Dearing. She took it down the court and finished through contact, which gave the Boiler Girls the first points of the game.
The Lady Panthers retaliated with a couple of shots on their own to give them a 6-3 lead going into the second quarter.
Going into the second quarter, Kewanee knew they had to switch gears. And that’s exactly what they did.
Kewanee overpowered EP on almost every possession in the second quarter. They were able to outscore EP 16-5 in the second quarter allowing them to finish the half 19-11.
After halftime, Kewanee continued its momentum over EP and outscored the visitors in the next two quarters. By the end of regulation, Kewanee took a decisive win over EP.
Kewanee had three scorers with all of them being in double digits.
Dearing had 12 points, senior Tejhiana Amos made 11 points, and Diaz scored 10.
Kewanee’s JV also took a win over EP’s JV squad 37-20. Kewanee’s JV is 15-1 on the season.
