...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST SUNDAY...
* WHAT...Southwest winds to 30 kt and significant waves to 5 ft.
* WHERE...Portions of Lake Michigan.
* WHEN...Until 9 AM CST Sunday.
* IMPACTS...Conditions will be hazardous to small craft.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Inexperienced mariners, especially those operating smaller
vessels, should avoid navigating in hazardous conditions.
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Kankakee's Taleah Turner scans the defense during the Kays' 49-27 victory against Bloom Township on Monday night.
KANKAKEE — Kankakee’s girls basketball team took on Bloom on Monday night in Southland Athletic Conference action. The Kays saw many key players improve as they went on to shut down the Trojans 49-27 to improve to 11-15 overall and 8-1 in the Southland Athletic Conference.
“Me and my team just had to come out here and play good defense,” Kankakee junior power forward Nikkel Johnson said. “That’s one of our biggest things is playing good defense.”
In the first quarter, Taleah Turner got Kankakee off to a good start with the first of her three total 3-pointers to help put the Kays up 3-0 within the first five seconds. Kanai Jackson and Morgan Baptist each sunk a basket in the next 10 seconds to help put Kankakee up 7-0 just 18 seconds into the opening frame. The first quarter was remarkable for the Kays, who held the Trojans to just three points and allowed Kankakee to end the first frame with a sizeable 22-3 lead.
In the second, the pace of gameplay quickened, and the Kays were not able to restrain their foes as well as they had in the previous quarter. Bloom held Kankakee to just three total points in the second frame, all of which were made by Turner from the free-throw line. The Kays’ defense relaxed, allowing the Trojans to outscore them 9-3 and close the home team’s lead to 13 points by halftime.
When Kankakee returned to the court after halftime, the team knew it had to strengthen its offense in order to overcome the opponents’ powerful offensive moves.
“We set the tone for the contest in the first quarter,” Kankakee head coach Kurt Weigt said. “I think we let them come back a little bit in the second and we never want to do that, but I thought our energy and our effort and our enthusiasm was really good in the first quarter.
“I think we scored about 25 points in [the first] quarter, we need to do that more and be closer to [25 points], especially in the second quarter.”
The Kays held Bloom to just three points yet again in the third quarter, outscoring them 14-3. Johnson had the firepower to lead Kankakee’s explosion of power, starting off the quarter with a 3-pointer before closing out the third with five points.
In the fourth, the Kays only continued their dominating ways. Benkwasha Stroud lifted Kankakee again at the start of the quarter, scoring two points to keep her team’s pace strong. Bloom came back offensively in the middle of the quarter, scoring eight points before Kays forward Kendyl Christon found herself on the free-throw line. Christon scored twice and Kankakee’s Lynlee Jubin sank a beautiful 3-pointer to cap the Kays’ scoring for the night, which afforded them a 22-point victory at home.
Kankakee’s players were more than happy with how they performed in a conference matchup.
“My strategy was to keep our energy up,” Stroud said. “When we started the game, we were down [emotionally], so my job was just to keep the energy up.
“When you’re down, you’ve really got to pick it up,” she added. “We were just trying to get this game, get this [win] and make it to the championship.”
With their victory against Bloom, the Kays advanced to the SAC title game, where they will play Thornwood for a chance to become SAC co-champions.
“Thornwood, that’s a good team, good defense,” Johnson said. “Everything that they do is good.
“We’ve just got to come out here and compete; play a good ball game,” she added. “I’m really looking forward [to] the next couple of days to prep and get ready for [Thornwood]. I told the girls in the locker room today, ‘there’s only so many championships you get to play in in your career, and there’s one Thursday night,’” Weight said, adding, “We’ve got to be ready for that one.”
STATBOOK
Kankakee’s third straight win was led by Turner’s 13 points. Johnson added 12 and Jackson had seven points. Stroud and Baptist tacked on six points each.
UP NEXT
Kankakee will travel to play Thornwood at 5 p.m. Thursday.
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