Northeast Fl- After a defeat at the hands of basketball powerhouse DME Academy in the first week of the regular season, the Bishop Kenny girls basketball team haven’t lost a game. Saturday, they improved their winning streak to seven as they defeated Paxon (4-4) 65-33.
What makes Kenny so hard to beat is a combination of execution on offense, and athleticism and size on defense. On offense, it starts down low with senior Clare Coyle who started the game scoring for Kenny against Paxon. The Furman commit used her 6 foot 1 inch frame down low as a big target for her teammates to find in the paint. Coyle would finish the game with 17-points adding to her 11.8 points per game average.
Watch this pass from Sydney Roundtree @SydneyRoundtree to Clare Coyle @clarecoyyle 18-7 Bishop Kenny leads Paxon end of 1st! pic.twitter.com/NyC3eOVVZt
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) December 16, 2023
If opponents commit to stopping Coyle down low, Kenny has many other weapons to inflict pain and put up points from outside. One of those players is senior Riley Talbert, who started the game hot hitting a 3-pointer for the game’s first points. Talbert finished the game with 13 points, 9 of them coming from 3-pointers.
Riley Talbert from downtown! First points of the game! Bishop goes ahead early over Paxon 3-0! pic.twitter.com/x1JtVm1dBm
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) December 16, 2023
Paxon was overmatched in the game as a team, but they weren’t without talent that can match up with Kenney’s best. One player that showed this was senior Kennedy Waymer. Waymer attacked the basket in the first half, and when she wasn’t making spectacular layups with the left hand, she was drawing fouls with her lightning quickness.
Kennedy Waymer of Paxon with the steal and beautiful tough layup with the left đź‘€! @Kennedy_11k pic.twitter.com/WTgKfCJNhH
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) December 16, 2023
Another cat quick senior for Paxon is Ansley Hicks. She leads Paxon in scoring on the season averaging 13.0 points per game. So it wasn’t a surprise, that she was a focal point of Kenny defense. Still, Hicks was able to drive to the basket as well using her quickness drawing defenders in the paint to dish the rock to her teammates for scores.
Ansley Hicks draws the defense and dishes to Sharla Adams! Paxon trying to close on the BK lead in the 2nd! @hicks_ansley pic.twitter.com/Y3fjhP4eFB
— Duval Sports (@DuvalSports) December 16, 2023
Their efforts kept the game within reach in the second quarter, getting the lead to as low as 10 points. However by halftime, Kenny had ballooned the lead to 19-points by a score of 34-15. Freshman Kathlenn Crawley scored 13-points, and by game’s end Kenny had completely dominated the contest closing the game out with a 32-point victory 65-33.
Many team’s in the area will have trouble with the Crusaders. Not only do they have size down low, and shooting on the edges, but they have size at the wing positions that make them almost indefensible. Syndney Roundtree, a 6 foot senior is able to drive to the basket, clog passing lanes with her length and over power opponents with her size and strength on both ends of the court. She scored 7-points in the game, but impacts the game is so many other ways. She finished with 5 assists, and 4 rebounds, second on the team in both categories.
Bishop Kenny (7-1) will face Carolina Forest (8-2) on 12/21/23. Their seven game winning streak includes victories over Westminster Academy (8-3), Ridgeview (5-3) and Mainland. Paxon on the other hand, will face another talented team in Ribault (4-2) on 12/18/23. The Golden Eagles must discover a way to boost their confidence after their third loss in a row.
