battlefield-jenks-2
Battlefield's Kat Jenks gets to the hoop en route to two of her career-high 27 points.

Jenks, Battlefield get hot after one, defeat Freedom-Woodbridge

Junior Kat Jenks scored a career-high 27 points and visiting Battlefield used runs of 12-0 to open the second quarter and 11-0 to open the third to defeat Freedom-Woodbridge, 64-37.

Freedom came out right away and proved it wasn’t going to go quietly. Short-handed without one of their leading scorers, Ny Clark (personal reasons), Freedom packed in a 2-3 zone and frustrated Battlefield. The Bobcats rushed shots and Freedom was able to get in the passing lanes for easy steals and opportunities in transition. The Eagles couldn’t have scripted the first quarter much better as they led 13-8 after one.

Freedom's #3
Freedom’s Keala Johnson was one of several Eagles who worked hard on defense all night

Then the Bobcats seemed to wake up, most notably Jenks. Their passes got better, their defensive intensity improved, and they took better shots. Their 12-0 run at the start of the second quarter turned the momentum in their favor.

“We knew we were better than how we had played,” Jenks said. “We knew we needed to pick it up.”

Leading by six at halftime they picked it up yet another notch, out-scoring Freedom 20-3 in the third. Battlefield coach Tim Brown made an adjustment, putting freshman Reese Burch and sophomore Anna Tekampe up high in his defense. The two young players used their length to get in the passing lanes and frustrate the Eagles’ offense. That, and Jenks attacking the rim and hitting three-pointers, sealed the game.

“It wasn’t easy shooting early,” she told us. “But once one of those [shots] go in a lot more seem to follow–it got easier.”

Jenks vs. The Zone
The Freedom zone was tough early, but soon Jenks and the Cats solved it.

Senior guard Bryonna Dutton added 11 points, Burch 10, and sophomore Monroe Bryant nine on three three-pointers for the Bobcats (5-3). After missing repeatedly from long range and failing to draw out Freedom’s zone in the first quarter, Brown’s squad finished with eight treys on the night.

Freedom (3-3) was led by Celebria Peacock with 13 points and 10 from Keala Johnson. The Eagles and their raucous home crowd could be extremely proud of their effort, playing hard the whole game and at one point forcing Brown to re-insert his starters in the fourth quarter.

–Chris Jollay

all stats are unofficial

BATTLEFIELD FG FT TP REB AST
DUTTON 3-12 4-6 11 1 3
MITCHELL 1-2 0-0 3 6 1
JENKS 10-22 4-6 27 7 2
BURCH 3-8 4-5 10 4 0
TEKAMPE 1-4 2-2 4 5 3
Miller 0-3 0-0 0 1 0
Bryant 3-6 0-0 9 4 4
Ngeleza 0-1 0-0 0 0 1
East 0-1 0-0 0 0 1
Smith 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
TOTALS 21-59 14-19 64 28 15
Threes: Jenks 3-6, Bryant 3-6, Mitchell 1-1, Dutton 1-6, Burch 0-1, Tekampe 0-3, Miller 0-3
FREEDOM FG FT TP REB AST
M.JOHNSON 0-1 0-2 0 1 0
BOATENG 2-6 1-2 5 11 0
HATCHER 1-8 0-0 2 2 1
PEACOCK 6-9 1-2 13 5 3
MOSLEY 2-2 1-2 5 4 2
K.Johnson 4-12 0-0 10 2 3
Henderson 1-4 0-2 2 2 1
TOTALS 16-42 3-10 37 27 10
Threes: K. Johnson 2-4, Hatcher 0-1

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