PORTLAND – Playing without its leading scorer in freshman point guard Love Lei Best, No. 3 Tualatin got a big lift from another impact freshman in the Platinum bracket final of the POA Holiday Classic girls basketball tournament Monday night.
Kendall Dawkins, a 6-foot freshman guard, scored a game-high 22 points and had seven rebounds as the Timberwolves improved to 8-0 by beating No. 8 Benson 40-32 at Franklin High School.
Tualatin (8-0) trailed the Astros 23-11 with three minutes left in the first half before taking control, outscoring them 29-9 the rest of the way.
“It was really hard at the beginning,” Dawkins said. “We really had to come together as a team, and realize it wasn't a one-person thing, because Love's a big impact on our team. We had to really focus and dig hard. But it was rough at first.”
Dawkins made 6 of 9 shots from the field, including 2 of 4 from three-point range, and hit all eight of her free throws. The offensive surge was much needed in the absence of Best (17.1 points per game), who had a family commitment in Texas.
“Just amazing performance for her,” Tualatin coach Wes Pappas said of Dawkins. “Kendall was an absolute warrior. It wasn't like a bunch of nifty plays, a lot of it was her just going, 'I'm going to find a way.' That's what she does. She's only a freshman, but just finds a way. Got a crazy motor on that kid.”
The Timberwolves were out of sorts early against Benson (5-2), which surprised No. 2 South Medford 55-49 in the semifinal round. The Astros got a three-pointer from freshman Kemara Phillips and a three-point play from freshman post Jayla Lackey to open a 23-11 lead with 3:17 left in the first half.
“We were kind of getting sped up,” Tualatin senior post Jordyn Smith said. “We weren't playing at our pace. We just needed to take a deep breath, get into our offense and then just work from there. Second half, we definitely figured it out.”
Dawkins began providing some offense, and the Timberwolves' 2-3 zone defense started to lock down the Astros. Dawkins converted a three-point play and scored off a feed from Smith to put Tualatin ahead to stay at 26-25 midway through the third quarter. Freshman Bella Amens made a layup and Dawkins drilled a three-pointer to make it 31-25.
Benson drew within 33-32 on a putback by senior Taliya McKelvey with 6:05 left, but Tualatin scored the game's final seven points to put it away.
“We adjusted pretty well,” said Smith, who had four points and a team-high eight rebounds. “We just had to work more as a team instead of just giving it to Love and saying she can take it up the floor. Everybody come back to the ball and move it around together.”
Pappas liked how his team responded to a difficult situation.
“Without Love here, and then we find ourselves down 12 in the second quarter, this team's never faced adversity like that,” Pappas said. “At that point, we could have made plenty of excuses, and this team just doubled down on defense.”
Tualatin held Benson to 4-for-22 shooting in the second half.
“We just kept on switching up in terms of how we were pressing them,” Pappas said. “I think we got to them and created some chaos. The first quarter-and-a-half was them putting us in chaos mode, where we couldn't get into plays. I think the second half was largely us getting them off what they wanted to do.”
Winning a tough game without Best – who scored 50 points in the tournament's first two games – showed the Timberwolves something about themselves.
“It feels great. It means a lot,” Smith said. “It really shows who we are as a team. We can do this. It's not all on one person, it's a team effort.”
Phillips scored seven points to lead Benson, which also got six points and nine rebounds from Lackey. Junior Kelyn Johnson, who made five three-pointers against South Medford, hit two three-pointers and finished with six points.
Pappas was impressed with the Astros.
“I know they're a young team, but they're strong,” Pappas said. “That's a very formidable team. They're playing with a lot of confidence because they had that huge win over South Medford. It kind of came down to grit, and it was great to do that.”
Diamond bracket
No. 1 Clackamas 63, Faith Family (Texas) 61 (OT): Senior Jazzy Davidson had 34 points and seven rebounds to lead the Cavaliers to the win in the Diamond bracket final Monday night at Franklin.
Davidson shot 13 of 22 from the field, including 5 of 9 on three-pointers. Senior Sara Barhoum hit 4 of 8 shots from three-point range and added 12 points for the Cavaliers (6-2), who led by as many as 12 points in the third quarter.
Leading by three points with five seconds left in regulation, Davidson missed two free throws, and Faith Family drew a foul on a three-point attempt and made three free throws to tie 51-51 with 0.2 seconds left, forcing overtime.
Amayah Garcia led Faith Family with 18 points.
jerryu@osaa.org
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