CITY BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES : 4-A Girls : Kennedy Wins It at the Free-Throw Line

Kennedy High School won the City 4-A girls’ title at the free-throw line Friday night, which was the only place the Golden Cougars could shoot from and not have it blocked by Crenshaw center Eugenia Miller.

Miller blocked eight shots, despite playing only 20 minutes because of foul trouble. Miller also limited Kennedy center Diane DeCree to nine points on 3 of 14 shooting.

But she couldn’t stop the Golden Cougars from parading to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter as Kennedy won its second straight City 4-A title with a 47-42 victory at the Sports Arena.

The box score tells the story: Kennedy was 19 of 33 from the free-throw line, while Crenshaw attempted only 6 free throws, making 2. Crenshaw was whistled for 25 fouls, Kennedy for just 9.

“I know our team fouls,” Crenshaw assistant coach Major Dennis said. “I know we’re rugged. But Kennedy got away with a lot of fouls.”

Crenshaw had its last lead of the game at 16-14 with 2:36 left in the half. On Kennedy’s next possession, Miller left the game with her third foul, and the Golden Cougars went on a 7-0 run to take a 21-16 lead, a lead they would never relinquish.

After DeCree left with her third foul, Crenshaw was able to close the gap to 24-22 at halftime. But with Miller out of the lineup for half of the third quarter, Kennedy widened its lead to 37-30.

In the fourth quarter, Kennedy appeared to be fading when a Miller basket cut its lead to 40-38 with 4:50 remaining.

But Crenshaw could get no closer and was undone by its own mistakes. Kennedy took advantage of each error, making 5 of 6 free throws to increase its lead to 45-38 with 2:35 to play.

“If we had had more discipline, I think we would have won the game,” Dennis said.

Crenshaw came back to make it close, but Yolanda Lewis sank a 20-foot jumper with 10 seconds remaining to clinch the win.

DeCree had a poor offensive game, but the rest of her game didn’t suffer. She pulled down 25 rebounds while limiting Miller to 10 points. Neither team shot well from the field. Kennedy made 26% of its shots, Crenshaw 33%.