By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Seamount League 3A Kennedy Catholic overcame an accumulation of mistakes and bad choices to surge past South Puget Sound League 4A Emerald Ridge, 49-45, in Sat., Dec. 26, girls basketball action of the 2014 Oberto Christmas Classic held at the Kennedy campus.

"I just told the players to be more aggressive," said Lancer coach Greg Caldwell. "In the beginning, they just settled and didn't feel the urgency."

Kennedy Catholic's rally to victory seemed unlikely after Emerald Ridge had posted three consecutive points to lead 42-36 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

As urgency appeared, Kelsey Abrejera fired in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to ignite a final charge. Following an Anna Tefelberg defensive rebound, Ariell Garnett spun for a lay up that had the Lancers within 42-41 as 2:14 showed.

ER claimed a one point lead after a Jiovanni Hayes free throw. KC turned the ball over, but the Jaguars took a quick shot that was off the mark. Garnett was fouled at the 1:02 mark only to miss the first of a one-and-one chance. However, Garnett rebounded to lay home a shot that forged a 43-43 stand off with just less than 53 seconds on the clock.

Twenty three seconds later, the Oberto's player of the game Garnett received a kick out pass in the corner. After releasing the shot, Garnett and everyone else watched the ball hit the front rim, pop up and swish down into the hoop for a 46-43 Lancer lead.

With 15.7 left,Garnett nailed down the first shot of a double bonus free throw situation and ER rebounded.
Fouled on the possession, McKayla Matthes downed a pair of charity tosses that created a 47-45 score as 13 seconds remained.

Emerald Ridge tipped the Lancer inbounds pass in back court, but Nikki Miller kept possession for Kennedy Catholic by catching the ball.

Just more than three seconds were left when Miyu Miyashita rang down the curtain on Kennedy's prime time performance on two closing free throws.

The teams battled evenly through the first half until the Jaguars emerged with a 26-25 edge.
ER gained the momentum to lead 38-30 before Jasmin Moore's offensive put back closed the Lancer deficit to 38-32 after three quarters.

Without Kelsey Abrejera's field goal and a Garnett 3-pointer to break up segments of the Jaguar scoring flow, the Lancers would have been in an even greater hole due to the accumulation of unforced errors and judgment mistakes. Two Abrejera free throws drew the fighting Lancers within 38-34, but low percentage outside shooting and continued problems moving the ball in and out of the low post dogged Kennedy.
Emerald Ridge led by five points, but Tegelberg claimed a loose ball and laid it home to get KC within 39-36 with 4:31 left in regulation.

McKayla Matthes sank a free throw ahead of Emma McCoy's offensive rebound basket to pull the Jaguars into the 42-36 lead that was not enough to hold off the hard charging Lancers.

Garnett notched eight fourth quarter points to finish with 18 while Abrejara posted 16. Jasmine Moore scored seven points with seven rebounds.