Kennedy Takes Another Step, And Squashes El Camino Real

To borrow a phrase from the backs of the Kennedy High girls’ basketball team’s warm-up shirts, the Golden Cougars’ resounding 69-44 victory over previously unbeaten El Camino Real Friday was “Nothin’ personal, just business.”

It is getting to be business as usual for Kennedy (18-3, 6-0 in Northwest Valley Conference play), which recorded its eighth consecutive victory. The game was called with 17.4 seconds left after El Camino Real guard Aja Diamond suffered an ankle injury that caused a delay of several minutes.

“The girls have goals beyond this game,” Kennedy Coach Donis Bailey said. “I think they feel like this is just another step up along the way.”

It was big step toward a West Valley League title for Kennedy. The two teams were tied for first place in the league going into the game, and the Conquistadores (11-1, 5-1) stayed with the Golden Cougars early before literally turning the game over to Kennedy.

El Camino Real trailed just 14-13 after the first quarter despite seven turnovers, but the Conquistadores’ mistakes caught up with them after that--and they never caught up with Kennedy, thanks largely to 29 turnovers in the game.

While the Conquistadores simply lost the ball on some occasions, they were also bothered by Kennedy’s match-up zone defense and were unable to counter the Golden Cougars’ superior height and strength underneath.

Leading the way for the Golden Cougars were Taft transfers Monia Calhoun and Vanessa Dunn with 17 points each. Calhoun tallied 12 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed 12 rebounds and six steals. Dunn had five rebounds and two steals. Teammate Tamaya Morris grabbed 10 rebounds.

Clinging to its one-point edge at the end of the first quarter, Kennedy opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run that made the score 27-13 and the Golden Cougars never looked back. Kennedy led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter.