Douglass flips switch defensively and takes down Simon Kenton in Girls’ Sweet 16
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2025 Girls’ Sweet 16 coverage
Click below to read all of the coverage from Kentucky.com and the Lexington Herald-Leader during the Girls’ Sweet 16 state basketball tournament in Rupp Arena.
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For a while it seemed nothing could go right for Frederick Douglass.
And then, suddenly, the Broncos could do almost no wrong.
After trailing 21-9 early in the second quarter, the Broncos turned up their defense and knocked out Simon Kenton, claiming a 48-39 victory in the first round of the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16 state tournament at Rupp Arena on Wednesday.
“Just a great game by these girls. They faced adversity the first half, and we could’ve laid down, but we fought,” said Douglass coach Daryl Moberly, who brought his 11th Region champs from Lexington to the state tournament for the second time in three years. “We came out in the second half with another game plan and, man, I was proud of the girls. They lived up to what we thought they could do.”
Simon Kenton stunned No. 1 Sacred Heart with a 75-70 overtime win less than a month ago, making them the only Kentucky team to have beaten the four-time defending state champions in three years.
And they looked every bit the giant killer to start. A series of backdoor layups and 3-pointers staked the Pioneers to a 21-9 lead on Megan Gadzala’s triple less than a minute into the second quarter.
“We played a great first quarter,” Simon Kenton coach Jeff Stowers said. “We played our defense, we played our style, and then we kind of got loose with the ball.”
Douglass’ fortunes seemed to turn on a dime. The Broncos went on an 11-0 run the rest of the second quarter, forcing seven Simon Kenton turnovers that helped fuel their own offense.
Eighth-grader Tamia Waide and sophomore Jaelee Knowles combined for all of Douglass’ first-half points. Knowles’ layup with 47 seconds left in the second quarter trimmed the halftime deficit to 21-20. Knowles also had two of her five blocks during the rally.
Moberly said his experience in the 2023 state tournament helped. A few Broncos saw action in their first-round loss to North Laurel two years ago.
“I told them … ‘We’re not coming back in here losers,’” Moberly said of his halftime talk. “We’re going to come out of this locker room. We’re going to be prepared. … Once the ball gets picked up. No more backdoor (plays). We tried to cut that off, and I think that’s what happened in the second half.”
Douglass and Simon Kenton exchanged the lead twice early in the third quarter, but a Waide layup put the Broncos up 24-23 midway through the frame. They never trailed again.
Over the next six minutes Douglass outscored the Pioneers 16-7, taking a 40-30 lead on a Waide layup via a Knowles assist.
Simon Kenton (26-5) had five assists in the first quarter, two in the second quarter and one in the rest of the game. The Pioneers were led by sophomore point guard Brynli Pernell’s 12 points.
Waide finished with a game-high 18 points to go with four steals. She went 6-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from both the 3-point line and the charity stripe.
“She’s a player, ya’ll. Tamia Waide is a household name,” Moberly said. “She’s poised to be in eighth grade. As a coach, I’m going to put the ball in her hand, and I trust her with it. So any decision that she makes, turnover or good play, we’re behind her.”
Frederick Douglass (26-7) closed out the game by going 6-for-6 from the field in the fourth quarter, including Knowles’ only 3-point attempt of the game. A missed free throw down the stretch was the only blemish.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 7:04 AM.
