Metro overpowers Kelly in quarterfinals

~ The Hawks finished their season at 23-7.

FARMINGTON -- The Kelly girls basketball team fell one game short of the Class 3 final four with a 69-41 loss to the Metro Panthers in quarterfinal play at the Farmington Civic Center on Saturday night.

Kelly hung tough with the defending Class 2 state champions and current No. 1 ranked team in Class 3 in the first half, but the Panthers exploded in the second half, outscoring the Hawks 38-16.

The Hawks (23-7) scored the first five points of the game, but Metro responded with a 10-1 run. Kelly had problems with the pressure defense of the Panthers and committed eight turnovers in the quarter, which ended with the Panthers leading 15-9.

Metro's leading scorer, Brittany Dodson, spent much of the first half on the bench saddled with three fouls.

Ebony Davis, a 5-foot-11 sophomore, picked up the scoring slack for the Panthers in the first half with 11 points. She also kept Kelly's season-leading scorer, Debra Hall, without a point in the half.

"Metro has some very long and athletic girls," Kelly coach Rod McQuerter said. "We struggled with their length and they altered a lot of our shots."

The Panthers built their biggest lead of the half, 30-19, with a 7-0 run. Kelly ended the half with a 6-1 spurt to close the gap to 31-25.

Metro coach Gary Glasscock thought he was seeing a mirror image of his club on defense.

"They're sound fundamentally," said Glasscock. "They play get-in-your face defense. They basically play the way we like to play."

The second half belonged to the Panthers. Metro started the third quarter on a 8-0 run and led 39-25 with 4:35 to left in the period. After Kelly broke its silence, Metro replied with another 8-0 run for a 47-25 advantage.

With two minutes to play, Kelly ran into more problems as senior point guard Brittany Ponder picked up her fourth foul late in the third quarter.

With Ponder out of the lineup, Metro increased its full-court pressure and started to force turnovers which led to easy transition baskets.

Senior guard LaChelle Livingston scored 16 points for Metro in the quarter and had four steals.

"That No. 11 [Livingston], she is a special player," McQuerter said. "She is quick and has great hands."

The Lady Hawks were outscored 23-8 in the period and trailed 54-33 heading into the final quarter.

Dodson scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter.

"They are a great team," said McQuerter. "They have a great coach and a winning program. We had problems with their full-court pressure, and they took advantage with some transition baskets."

Metro (26-4) held the Lady Hawks to only three field goals in the second half. The Panthers forced 18 turnovers in the game and outrebounded Kelly 25-17.

Livingston led Metro with 22 points, six steals and five assists. Davis had 13 points and four blocks.

Nikki Weiny led Kelly with 12 points and Sarah Ruff finished with 10.

"Our girls have nothing to hold their heads down about," McQuerter said. "They always played hard and with a positive attitude. I was blessed with a super group of seniors, and they are great kids."

Metro 69, Kelly 41

Metro 15 16 23 15 -- 69

Kelly 9 16 8 8 -- 41

METRO (69) -- LaChelle Livingston 22, Ebony Davis 13, Brittany Dodson 9, Dekeisha Mathis 9, Jasmine Cooper 8, Nakia Robinson 5, Samantha Gilkey 3. FG 25. FT 16-29. F 24. (3-pointers: Gilkey 1. Fouled out: none).

KELLY (41) -- Nikki Weiny 12, Sarah Ruff 10, Katee Moore 6, Kayla Cissell 4, Brittany Ponder 4, Debra Hall 2, Londyn Backfisch 2, Lauren Gean 1. FG 9. FT 17-34. F 23. (3-pointers: Moore 2. Fouled out: Ruff).