PHOTO BY BOB ROCHE
KIPP point guard Nayeli Germosen drives past a defender.
By MIKE ALONGI
LYNN — The KIPP Panthers girls’ basketball team overcame a slow start to notch a win over the Community Charter School of Cambridge Cougars, 50-39, at home on Monday night. With the win, the Panthers improve to 12-4 on the season.
Favour Ofuokwu led the way for KIPP, recording a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Nayeli Germosen finished with 13 points and four rebounds, while Loida Rosario had five points and seven rebounds. Divine Kamba scored four points and pulled down seven rebounds.
KIPP certainly had a slow start to the game. The Panthers were having a lot of trouble with Cambridge’s defense early on. The Cougars were pressuring the ball and the passing lanes, leading to steals and transition baskets for Cambridge.
“We got our feet under us after the first few minutes and used our defense to get ourselves back in the game,” said KIPP coach Drea DeAngelo. “We also executed our offense really well against their man-to-man defense, which was great.”
Once the Panthers got their feet under them, however, they took over the game. KIPP started throwing the ball into the paint where Ofuokwu was waiting, and let her go to work.
By halftime, Ofuokwu was already pushing a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Panthers also finished the game with a huge rebounding margin, outrebounding the Cougars 38-9.
“It’s something our forwards have been focusing on,” DeAngelo said. “We’ve had a ton of growth with them boxing out, being super confident, ripping the ball down and getting the outlet pass.”
Behind Ofuokwu and others, the Panthers were able to stretch their lead out to 14 points. At the half, KIPP led, 29-15.
KIPP stretched the lead to as many as 18 points in the second half and appeared to be coasting to victory.
Cambridge did make it tough at points during the second half, going on short runs to tighten the game up.
A couple of clutch baskets from Ofuokwu, Germosen and Rosario kept the Panthers firmly in the lead as the clock ran down.
“We’ve got two more league games, one out of league game and then it’s tournament time,” said DeAngelo. “And I think we’re going to be in really good shape as long as we finish the season strong.”
Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @m_alongi.