KF girls advance to playoff final
Published 9:57 pm Thursday, February 11, 2016
The King’s Fork High School girls’ basketball team took its first step on Thursday to regaining the No. 1 spot in Conference 17 by defeating Lake Taylor High School 52-47 at Deep Creek High School.
The Lady Bulldogs had a firm grip on the top spot after starting the season 20-0, but then losses to Lake Taylor and Woodrow Wilson High School dropped them into a three-way tie for first with the Lady Titans and Lady Presidents.
King’s Fork High School junior guard Cydney Nichols speeds across the floor against the defense of Lake Taylor High School on Thursday at Deep Creek High School. Nichols came up big for her team, helping it defeat the Lady Titans 52-47.
The tie forced the playoff to see who would claim the regular season Conference 17 crown and the automatic Region 4A West tournament berth that comes with it.
Things did not look good for King’s Fork early on Thursday, as it trailed 10-5 after the first quarter.
“We started out slow,” Lady Bulldogs coach Maurice Fofana said. “At halftime, we only had 16 points. We scored a point a minute.”
The Lady Titans made a basket right before the buzzer at the half to lead 19-16. Though the two teams traded the lead in the third quarter, Lake Taylor had a 32-28 advantage going into the fourth.
The Lady Bulldogs were playing good defense but had a lot of fouls called on them, stalling any momentum they had created offensively.
“But we eventually picked it up in the fourth quarter when we needed to,” Fofana said. “Cydney (Nichols) was big. She came through for us in the fourth quarter.”
The junior guard for King’s Fork finished the game with 21 points and scored 10 of them in the final period.
Lady Bulldogs sophomore point guard Camary Harris scored eight of her 14 points in the fourth quarter, draining some key free throws to put the game out of reach.
It was a contrast to the third quarter when King’s Fork registered several misses at the charity stripe that weighed heavily in the tight game.
“We shot 14 in the fourth quarter and made 10,” Fofana said. “So that was big for us. They made them when they counted.”
In addition to her 21 points, Nichols finished with 10 steals, and Harris added six assists and five steals to go with her 14 points.
Lady Bulldogs junior forward Amesha Miller ended up with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
King’s Fork also got a key lift from senior Jac’Quazja Council, junior Alexis Wethington and junior Latoya Thomas.
“Those three kids came in and gave us great spark on defense,” Fofana said.
The Lady Bulldogs (21-2) will now face Wilson on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Deep Creek High School to determine who will finish as the No. 1 team in Conference 17 for the regular season.
