PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
Nayeli Germosen has her eyes on the basket as she begins her drive.
By MIKE ALONGI
LYNN — Behind some solid defense and timely baskets, the KIPP girls’ basketball team defeated the Pioneer Charter Panthers, 32-17, at the KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate gym on Thursday afternoon.
“Today was the second game in a row that we got everybody in there,” said KIPP coach Andrea DeAngelo. “All of our forwards are pretty young, so it was good to get them in there and get more experience.”
Junior forward Loida Rosario was the top scorer for KIPP (4-3) with eight points and five rebounds. Freshman forward Gift Ofuokwu was right behind with seven points and four rebounds off the bench, while sophomore point guard Nayeli Germosen had a great all-around game with six points, two rebounds and four assists.
For Pioneer, senior captain Kirsten Fiote led the team with nine points before leaving with a knee injury early in the second half. Sophomore Aditi Dalal had six points and five rebounds.
KIPP had a sluggish start to the game and it took the Panthers a several minutes to get into a groove. After falling behind, 5-0, to start the game, KIPP went on a 15-1 run with five minutes remaining in the first half.
The defense tightened up as well, and KIPP started anticipating passes and jumping passing lanes for easy fast break points. At halftime, KIPP led, 19-9.
Pioneer came out even stronger in the second half, but their burst was short-lived. Fiote, who had scored all nine Pioneer points in the first half, banged knees with a KIPP player coming off of a screen and went down. She was helped off the court and did not return to the game.
It was at that point that KIPP started to stretch out the lead. Senior center Favour Ofuokwu, junior forward Divine Kamba and eighth-grade guard Grace Kamba all came through with timely buckets to help give KIPP a 10-point lead about halfway through the second half.
KIPP’s defense continued to lead the way as well, with Germosen, Kamba and Rosario all jumping passing lanes for steals. After a few more fast break baskets, the Panthers sealed the 15-point win.
“I think we’ve (seen) a lot of growth already this year,” said DeAngelo. “I’m really proud of the girls’ team effort and their support of each other throughout the entire game. We’ve really made a lot of progress over these first seven games.”
Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @m_alongi.
