By Pedro Velazco
LOGANSPORT — Ashley Lobeck’s stat line won’t draw a lot of attention in the Kokomo girls basketball team’s box score this morning. Maybe that’s why she found herself in the clear with a path to the hoop with less than 30 seconds left and the game tied Saturday night at the Berry Bowl.
Moments earlier, Logansport star Jasmine Penny stood on the free throw line with a chance to break a 34-34 deadlock and put the Berries up one. She hit her first freebie to tie the game with 29 seconds left, and the Wildkats called time out before the second free throw.
Penny’s second shot missed, the Kats gained control and fed Lobeck at center court. Lobeck turned, raced to the hoop, kept her composure as a defender flew at her, and sank a left-handed layup to put Kokomo ahead with 22 seconds left. It turned out to be the game winner as Kokomo won 36-34.
“When we were blocking out from Jasmine Penny’s shot, I knew I was in there for a reason, and I knew I had to make the play,” said Lobeck, who finished with four points. “I saw we got the rebound … Skylarr [Shurn] passed it to Kali [Ackison], Kali did a great job holding it, and she got it out to me.
“I just went up and expected the foul, still went up and thankfully made it.”
Kokomo coach Jason Snyder was impressed.
“She’s able to finish left hand, with [a defender’s] body with her. It wasn’t wide open. It was a great play,” he said.
Penny, who scored a game-high 18, got two more chances to score in the final 20 seconds but couldn’t find the net and the Kats (3-0) emerged with a victory in their North Central Conference opener.
Lobeck called it a “perfect” way to end against key rival Logansport. It was an important first step for the Kats.
“I’m excited,” Snyder said. “It’s a great conference win. Everybody’s talking about Logansport being up at the top of our conference, and it’s really nice to be able to come in here and get a win.”
Kokomo let a 31-23 lead slip away in the fourth quarter, then responded late to stop Logan’s 10-0 run and get a grip on the game once the Berries went up 33-31. Clarissa Woodard’s triple with 1:58 left gave the Kats a spark and a 34-33 lead.
“We hit some big shots when we needed to,” Snyder said. “We extended the lead there in the fourth quarter with good, solid offense. Our girls did a nice job — after they made a few mistakes — of righting that, and I thought the last two-and-a-half minutes was great basketball.”
The victory was hard-earned. The Wildkats got lifts from a host of players, and had to deal with the multi-skilled Penny, a DePaul recruit.
The Kats got a team-high 11 points from Shurn, who came up big in the third quarter with eight points in her signature style — attacking the hoop.
Woodard added eight points including two triples, one to get Kokomo’s first points more than five minutes into the game, and the late triple to break Logan’s run.
“[Woodard] steps out and hits a couple threes, and we knew she could do that, but you gamble,” Logan coach Jerry Hoover said.
The offense didn’t flow easily for either team. Snyder was thrilled with his team’s effort on Penny, a 6-foot-1 guard/forward who can score from anywhere on the court. He noted that Kokomo ran several primary defenders at her and other defenders had to pay a lot of attention to helping once she got the ball. Eventually, that pushed Penny further and further outside.
“I think it can wear you out having a body on you all the time, and then you catch the ball and you’ve got two [defenders] that are cutting off driving lanes for you,” Snyder said.
Penny noticed.
“They’re tough, they’re physical,” She said. “It was a good game.”
Indeed, it was hard for both squads. Kokomo used nine players and Snyder ticked off contributions from each one, including a six-rebound effort from Caroline Harbaugh off the bench and the defensive work of every player who had to match up with Penny.
“I was really proud of the overall team effort of our kids,” he said. “How many kids came off the bench and stepped up and made huge plays?”
Lobeck was glad to keep a Kokomo win streak in the Berry Bowl rolling. It might not be the team’s last meeting though. The league rivals could meet again in the postseason.
“It’s tough, but we’ll see them again in the sectionals, so it’s OK,” Penny said.
