Keenan, Konkrete Kids conquer
Northampton rallies past Freedom for District 11 Class 6A championship
All-state senior guard Victoria Keenan filled the stat sheet with 28 points, seven rebounds, six steals, five assists and two blocked shots to lead No. 1 seed Northampton to the District 11 Class 6A championship Thursday night.
The Konkrete Kids posted a 60-52 victory over defending champion and second-seeded Freedom before a big and boisterous crowd at Easton Middle School.
It was the fifth District 11 title in school history for Northampton (24-4) and first in eight seasons.
But by no means was the flashy Keenan a one-girl show. Senior forward Jenna Rogers added 10 points and eight rebounds and freshman guard Kylie Gilliard tied her career high with 15 points, including eight in the second half, when the Konkrete Kids overcame a 29-23 deficit.
“We worked together as a team and looked for the best options to score,” said Keenan, who has 1,684 points and 239 3-pointers in her career and assisted on three straight baskets when the K-Kids pulled away.
“It’s amazing. We worked hard for this all season and deserve this. Just love every moment of it.”
“We played defense in the third quarter — that was the difference,” Northampton coach Jeff Jacksits said after a 24-11 third quarter broke the game open.
“We knew when they were playing the junk defense we had to do something different. Once we knocked down some shots they had to come out and play a little more.”
Freedom’s Jewel Levy, a 5-foot-5 sophomore guard who didn’t start her first game this season until the district playoffs, scored a career-high 13 points in the first half alone. She came into the game with five 3-pointers and made three in the first half, finishing with 18 points.
Northampton jumped ahead 12-7 as Rogers scored twice, but Freedom tied the score by the end of the quarter on a Brenna Ortwein jumper and a Levy 3-pointer. Freedom (22-5) took its first lead of the night, 14-12, when Jen Kokolus scored from inside.
The teams pretty much traded baskets the rest of the half as Levy’s 3 from the deep right corner gave Freedom a 27-23 lead at intermission. Keenan began the K-Kids’ second-half comeback with a 3-pointer and runner in the lane.
Gilliard scored in transition and on a long jumper to give Northampton a 34-33 lead midway through the third quarter. Freedom took its final lead at 35-34 on an Ortwein rebound basket.
Northampton went on a game-deciding 13-4 run and Keenan canned three 3-pointers in the quarter as the K-Kids led 47-39 entering the fourth.
Freedom cut the lead to five points on three different occasions before Gilliard’s transition bucket gave Northampton a 58-51 lead with 1:28 left.
“This is amazing,” said Gilliard, a starter all season.
“I never expected this to happen until I got together with this team. We just did what we had to do and played as hard as we could and that won the game for us.”
Kokolus finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for Freedom, which outscored Northampton 16-0 in overtime in last year’s quarterfinals on the way to its third district title.
Kailey Turpening added 10 points and Ortwein nine for the Patriots.
“I think Northampton got every 50-50 ball when the game was on the line,” Freedom coach Dean Reiman said. “Keenan’s going to get her points because she’s a tremendous player. Give them all the credit, but I’m very proud of our kids. They fought like hell and Jewel has no fear out there.
“These are life lessons, man. It was on a big stage, a tremendous atmosphere. No regrets. Now we get ready for states.”
“It feels good,” said Jacksits, who has guided the K-Kids to three of their five district titles.
“These girls are a fun bunch of girls and this championship is well deserved. “
Nazareth wins third-place game
In the third-place game, senior guard Madison Amy scored 19 points and sophomore forward Talya Brugler added 11 to lead Nazareth past Parkland 52-44.
Freshman Zoey Wilkinson scored a career-high 13 for the Trojans (16-10).
The Blue Eagles improved to 21-6.