By Bryan Gaskins
Tribune sports editor
Kokomo — Kokomo’s girls basketball team used a 21-2 advantage in second-chance points to whip New Castle 58-39 in a North Central Conference game Friday night at Memorial Gym.
The Lady Kats took eight offensive rebounds in the first half to grab control of the game. They finished with a dozen.
“In practice, we always work on attacking the offensive rebounds. We do drills and everything. It’s definitely a focus,” said junior forward Anastacia Kirby, who took five offensive boards.
The Kats’ good work on the offensive glass complemented one of their best shooting performances of the season. They shot 52 percent from the field overall and 80 percent from the free throw line, well above their season marks.
“This was one of our best games,” Kirby said. “Everybody shared the ball, everybody played good on offense and defense. This is building our confidence to go on to the end of the season.”
Kirby finished with a terrific all-around line of 11 points, 14 rebounds and four assists — all team highs. She led the Kats to a 33-17 advantage in total rebounds.
Kirby is averaging 9 rebounds per game.
“She just works so hard,” Kokomo coach Jason Snyder said.
Kokomo (8-7, 3-3 in NCC) snapped a two-game losing streak.
“I am excited about getting back in the win column [with a] good conference win,” Snyder said. “We had a lot of fans here with the girls-boys doubleheader and I think they saw a fun group — a group I love to coach every day.”
New Castle held a 10-7 lead deep in the first quarter. Kokomo followed with a 21-3 run to take control of the game. Kirby and Brayana Fowler ignited the run with three-point plays off putbacks in the final 1:32 of the opening quarter.
Fowler had another hoop-and-harm putback to open the second quarter and Kirby and Jordan Johnson followed with putbacks to give the Kats a 13-0 advantage in second-chance points less than 11 minutes into the game.
Kokomo went into halftime with a 28-16 lead. Kirby had nine points and eight boards in the half and Fowler came off the bench to score seven points and grab three boards.
“I thought Brayana Fowler really gave us a spark in the first half,” Snyder said.
New Castle opened the second half with a 7-2 run to draw within seven, 30-23, but Kokomo quickly regained control. Jasmine Love hit a 3-pointer and scored off an offensive rebound to put the Kats up 41-28 with 2:35 left in the third quarter. The Kats kept a double-figure lead the rest of the way.
Kirby’s 11 points led a balanced Kat attack. Arienne Beard followed with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range and five other players scored five or more points.
Snyder pointed to good ball and player movement as keys.
“We’ve done a nice job against man to man, but everybody has been zoning us because of our size so we’re starting to get a little better feel of what we need to do for that,” he said.
“Balanced scoring was key and will be key as people try to zone. We’re going to need people that they leave open to step up in those gaps and we did a much better job of that [Friday].”
