Nobody is hitting play yet, but the Lady Broncos probably have Drake on queue just in case. With every TSIAA win, Boyd gets a little bit closer to going back-to-back as the South champion.
Behind a 25-point, 12-rebound night from Brooke Kesey, the Lady Broncos blasted visiting Franklin Classical 52-29 Thursday. It moved Boyd to 8-1 in the conference standings, while the Knights – third in the standings before the matchup – dropped back to 5-4 and stumbled to fifth place.
While Kesey set the tone offensively in the blowout, coach Tim Page thought the defense was where Boyd really shined on its home floor.
“It was one of our best defensive performances of the year,” said Page. “We locked in on the scout, helped each other out and everybody played a big part. We were short-handed with just seven kids dressing, but they kept the defensive intensity up until the final minutes and never looked too winded. They wanted to finish strong.”
Boyd (13-9) held Franklin Classical to just eight points total in the second and third quarters, using a strategy of locking up star senior Alyssa Kenny and cleaning the glass defensively. Kenny, who has already signed to attend Bryan College next season, was able to score 13 points, but most came from the line as the lethal outside shooter was held to 4-of-11 from the field and 0-for-5 from deep.
“She’s a great player, but our girls took the challenge of taking away her space and making things difficult. I think every guard on our roster rotated in to face her at times and all showed a lot of grit,” said Page.
Franklin Classical tried to counter with a similar focus of shadowing Kesey everywhere she went, but it didn’t seem to slow down the sophomore post. She had three separate three-point plays in the first half, including finishing off the first quarter with a bucket through a foul to break an 11-11 tie.
Boyd surged to a 29-13 lead by halftime, sparked early in the second quarter by a long jumper from Katie Bechtel. The sophomore guard would go on to finish with 11 points, showing her range as she ended her night by burying a late 3-pointer in the blowout.
Macie Bush added eight points, including connecting on two triples in the first half, and senior Kelly Bush had two points to go along with 10 rebounds. Cydney Jane Perry was an all-around standout with four points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals and Zoe Oliver – largely tasked with slowing down Kenny – had a huge putback to give the Lady Broncos momentum going into halftime.
Boyd will travel to St. Andrews Sewanee Tuesday in hopes of picking up its third straight victory. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.
