Girls Basketball: McDavid scores 37 in Kenton Ridge win

Kenton Ridge’s girls basketball team is on the upswing as the regular season winds down and hopes to carry the momentum in the tournament.

The Cougars ran away in the second half on Monday night to an 94-55 win over Greeneview in a nonconference game. It’s their fourth win in the last five games, and all of the victories have come by 20 or more points.

“It gives us a little bit more confidence when we’re able to win,” Kenton Ridge senior forward Jamari McDavid said. “It shows some of our youngers players that we can win if we put our hearts into it. There have been couple losses that we should have won, but our turnovers caused us to lose.”

McDavid led Kenton Ridge with 37 points and 15 rebounds, while Mikala Morris added 26 points and 14 rebounds. Both are Div. I prospects and are two of the best post players in the state.

The duo has consistently been able to score the last two seasons. Coach Ed Foulk said the rest of the team has played better in recent weeks, which has led to more wins. He said less turnovers and better defense as the two main improvements.

“We’re working hard,” Foulk said. “Tonight when we didn’t have our pressure on (on defense), they kind of slowly came back. But when we put our pressure on, they couldn’t keep up. You’ve just got to keep us moving up-and-down the floor. We’ve got to put pressure on them and work on our fast break more.”

Kenton Ridge pulled away late in the first quarter.

After taking an 8-6 lead, the Cougars went on a 9-2 run. Greeneview made a basket to pull within seven points but threw the ball out of bounds with three seconds left. Kenton Ridge threw the inbounds pass to Desiree Jones in the left corner, and she made a nothing-but-net 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Kenton Ridge up 20-10.

Kenton Ridge started the second quarter on a 14-6 run and led 40-25 at halftime. Greeneview didn’t come closer than 13 points in the second half.

The Cougars are 11-7 overall and 8-2 in the Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail. Now that the Cougars are two games behind league leader Tecumseh in the standings, the team’s focus has turned toward the postseason.

“We are only focused on the tournament,” McDavid said. “These games we have coming up are going to prepare us, and that’s what’s going to make or break us.”

McDavid has been selected to play in the Ohio vs. Kentucky all-star game in April and has 1,838 career points after Monday’s game. She has a chance to become the school’s all-time leading scorer before the end of the season. Former Parade All-American Tara Cosby holds the record with 1,985 points.

The Cougars have only four regular season games left, starting on Wednesday against CBC rival Shawnee. Kenton Ridge beat the Braves by 14 points on Dec. 17.

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