Frederick Douglass girls basketball digs in for top-10 win against Madison Central
Frederick Douglass girls basketball coach Daryl Moberly means to test his team’s mettle over the next two weeks with games against the likes of No. 12 Covington Holy Cross, No. 3 Cooper and No. 1 Sacred Heart in preparation for the postseason.
The No. 9 Broncos’ gauntlet began Friday night at No. 8 Madison Central, a team that had been unbeaten until a loss this week at No. 7 North Laurel.
Though Douglass pulled out a hard-fought 64-58 victory, the game tested Moberly’s nerves as well. The Broncos seemed to squander momentum as quickly as they seized it against the Indians.
“There was some adversity throughout the game, but I was proud of my girls for staying disciplined,” Moberly said. “We didn’t lay down. Mentally, my girls stayed in it.”
Douglass (19-4) led by as many as six points in the first quarter and five in the second quarter, only to see Madison Central rally to the lead each time.
“At halftime, we went in there and (Moberly) was really, really mad,” said sophomore forward Jaelee Knowles, who scored 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, both game highs. “We got in our heads to turn it on because we were just being lazy with the ball. We were turning it over and making bad passes.”
Madison Central (21-2) unleashed a tenacious zone defense that routinely denied entry passes into the post and punished the Broncos’ mistakes. The Indians grabbed their largest lead at 42-37 on Nataya Strader’s layup with 4:53 left in the third quarter. The fourth quarter began with the scored tie at 50-50.
Knowles credited senior guard Kate Baker with helping Douglass lock in down the stretch, especially on defense.
“She was telling us to do all the little stuff that made the difference,” Knowles said.
Douglass held Madison Central to one point over the last 4:21 of the game as Knowles made a pair of baskets and one of two free throws to help create a gap.
Eighth grader Tamia Waide added 14 points. She averages 11.2 points per game, third-best on the squad. Waide got a late steal that helped Douglass run a few more seconds off the clock in the fourth quarter.
“I’m so proud of her. She’s so young, but she plays like she’s so grown,” Knowles said. “Her game is already so developed and mature. It’s crazy watching her play.”
Strader led three players in double figures for Madison Central with 21 points. Brittany Campbell and Cameryn Ridderikhoff added 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Madison Central coach Scott True lamented his team’s struggles at the free-throw line, where they made only 13 of 25 attempts. Those misses proved to be the difference.
“We’ve got to make our free throws — and tonight we didn’t,” said True, who has perhaps his best team yet in his three seasons in Richmond. “We got to the line, like we wanted to. Then we didn’t hit them.”
Douglass and Madison Central represent two of the three 11th Region girls teams who rank in the Kentucky High School Basketball Media Poll Top 15. No. 4 Franklin County (21-3), the defending region champion, is the other.
Unfortunately, the Flyers don’t appear on either Douglass’ or Madison Central’s regular-season schedule. But the Broncos could get a feel for where they stand when they host Cooper on Feb. 18. Franklin County defeated the Jaguars 48-38 on a neutral court on Jan. 25.
“We’re just trying to get prepared,” Moberly said. “We want to see our weaknesses and see our advantages and see what we can do to prepare for the next team. … We’re going to get in there and lock in and try to get better defensively.”
