Kenzie Garner joins 1,000 point club on free throw
By RICHIE HALL
SHERIDAN – It seemed as if the third quarter of Sheridan’s girls basketball game with Southmont on Wednesday turned into a bit of extra free-throw practice.
The Blackhawks’ Kenzie Garner and Cecilia Timme kept getting sent to the line – the duo combined for 20 free-throw attempts during that period. But they were up to the challenge, making 17 of those foul shots, and that helped propel Sheridan to a 52-37 win over the Mounties at Larry Hobbs Hall.
Garner said that every morning, the Blackhawks come in about an hour before school and shoot 100 free throws, “so that helps,” she said. The team also gets in more free-throw practice during practice after conditioning and running drills.
In other words, Sheridan is ready when it goes to the line.
“It makes a big difference,” said Blackhawks coach Jaidlin Bradshaw. “The way we’re shooting free throws this year compared to the way we shot free throws last year is night and day. They’ve done a much better job and it’s honestly because they work so hard and that they’re willing to put the work in. And then that makes a big difference.”
The biggest free throw came with 6:41 left in the third quarter. Garner was sitting at 999 points at that moment, and she made a free throw to hit the 1,000-point mark. Garner is the fourth Sheridan girl to reach 1,000 points, joining Audrey Reed, Brittany Welch, and her coach, who said Garner “deserves it.”
“She works her butt off,” said Bradshaw. “She’s a great leader. She shows up to practice every day and she makes herself and her teammates better, and this is certainly the fruits of her labor.”
“I was pretty nervous coming in, but I knew we could get the win,” said Garner. “Starting off, I think we were a little rocky, but we pulled it together in the second half.”
Sheridan had to contend with a young 12-win Southmont team – the Mounties have five freshman, four of whom played significant minutes – that used speed and pressure defense on the ‘Hawks the entire game. One of those freshman, Layla Gomez, put in back-to-back 3-pointers to erase an early 4-0 Sheridan lead.
The Blackhawks led 9-8 after one quarter. DeLorean Mason then hit back-to-back triples of her own to get Southmont ahead 14-11. Garner began to take over, scoring 11 points in the second quarter; her last basket tied the game at 20-20. But a 3 from Mounties freshman Molly Williams gave her team a 23-20 lead at the break.
Sheridan’s Nova Cross had four assists. (Richie Hall)
Southmont led 27-26 as the third quarter approached the midway point. But the Mounties kept putting Sheridan on the line, and the ‘Hawks took advantage. Timme and Garner teamed to make 14 consecutive free throws between the 4:23 and 1:05 marks of the third quarter. Sheridan led 38-33 at that point, and Garner hit one more foul shot before the end of the period to put the Blackhawks up 39-33.
Sheridan wore the Mounties down in the fourth quarter, only allowing them four points. The ‘Hawks accelerated to the finish line, with Timme scoring seven points and Mac Smith adding a pair of late layins to clinch the game.
“We watched a lot of film and we knew what to expect, but it’s just different when you get in the game, and the girls were definitely frazzled by their effort in the press at the beginning, but then I think thankfully, we figured it out and settled down and got into a little bit of a groove, especially there in the third quarter,” said Bradshaw.
Garner picked up another double-double, finishing with 25 points and 12 rebounds. She also had a monster game on defense, with seven blocked shots and six steals. Timme scored 15 points and collected five rebounds. Sadie Timme pulled six rebounds and Nova Cross handed out four assists.
Sheridan is 16-5 and finishes its Hoosier Heartland Conference and regular seasons on Friday when it hosts Taylor as part of a HHC doubleheader.
SHERIDAN 52, SOUTHMONT 37
Sheridan FG FT TP PF
Cecilia Timme 3-13 9-14 15 4
Kenzie Garner 7-15 10-12 25 2
Nova Cross 1-8 0-0 2 4
Brielle Garner 1-7 0-0 2 2
Sadie Timme 1-7 0-0 2 0
Mac Smith 3-3 0-0 6 1
Makenzy Terry 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 16-53 19-26 52 13
Score by Quarters
Southmont 8 15 10 4 – 37
Sheridan 9 11 19 13 – 52
Sheridan 3-point shooting (1-6) K. Garner 1-2, Cross 0-1, S. Timme 0-1, B. Garner 0-1, C. Timme 0-1.
Sheridan rebounds (27) K. Garner 12, S. Timme 6, C. Timme 5, Cross 2, Smith 1, B. Garner 1.