Prep girls basketball: Lakota West uses balance to sink GMC rival Sycamore

LIBERTY TWP. — Lakota West High School’s girls basketball team doesn’t exactly welcome opponents focusing their defense on stopping a top scorer, but the Firebirds don’t fret too much about it either.

Sycamore limited dynamic freshman Chance Gray to five points, 9.8 below her previous average, and zero 3-pointers for only the fourth time this season when the two Greater Miami Conference teams met Monday in a Division I district semifinal at Lakota East.

The second-seeded Firebirds countered with balanced scoring, led by sophomore forward Kailyn Dudukovich’s 14 points, and their usual pressure defense while rolling into their sixth consecutive district championship game with a 50-35 win over the 13th-seeded Aviators.

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Senior point guard Bryana Henderson contributed nine points and a team-high three assists and senior forward Dominique Camp added eight points for West, which jumped out to an 11-1 lead.

“We have other players who can step up,” said Henderson, pointing out the Firebirds practice having defenses take Gray out of the offense. “We’re very prepared for those kinds of situations.”

“We can move the ball around, and we have other girls who are very capable scorers,” West coach Andy Fishman said. “Bryana does a good job of moving the ball, and Chance is a good passer too.”

The Firebirds also compensated by being willing to make the extra passes that set up passes that turned into assists. If the game had been hockey, several Firebirds would have been credited with secondary assists, Fishman said.

Fishman also was impressed with a Firebirds defensive effort led by the 5-foot-11 Dudukovich. West forced 21 Aviator turnovers.

“Our defense was phenomenal,” Fishman said. “Everything they tried was contested. Kailyn did an amazing job. I credit our girls for being disciplined.”

The Firebirds extended to 13 their winning streak in the series against their GMC rivals, dating back to Jan. 28, 2012. That includes wins in both regular-season games between the two teams this season.

West has won 21 straight games against Ohio teams and improved to 22-1 against Buckeye State teams this season.

The Firebirds (23-2), ranked third in the final Associated Press state poll, are scheduled to meet sixth-ranked Centerville (23-2) in a district final Saturday at Princeton. Tipoff time is yet to be determined.

The Elks needed a basket at the buzzer to cap a come-from-behind 65-63 win over Greater Western Ohio Conference-rival Springboro on Monday at Troy. They trailed the Panthers 36-19 at halftime.

“We know there’s always room for improvement, but we’re prepared for the big moments,” Henderson said.

Sycamore (13-12) scored just three fewer points than the total allowed by West in its first two tournament games.

“I thought Sycamore did a really good job running their flex offense,” Fishman said, crediting the game plan deployed by Aviators coach Derek Christerson. “Derek did a good job prepping his team.”

Henderson scored six points and Dudukovich five while West was building a 13-3 first-quarter lead. Sycamore had one more turnover than points in the first quarter and didn’t connect on its first field goal until 1:04 was left in the quarter.

The Firebirds ended the first half with an 8-0 run to lead 32-11 at halftime. Dudukovich finished the half with 12 points and West forced the Aviators into 11 first-half turnovers.

Lakota West 13-19-11-7—50

Sycamore 3-8-12-12—35

LAKOTA WEST (23-2): Jaydis Gales 3 0 6; Bryana Henderson 3 3 9; Chance Gray 2 1 5; Sydney Benning 0 1 1; Dominique Camp 4 0 8; Kylie Zurlinden 3 0 6; Keiara Gregory 0 1 1; Kailyn Dudukovich 5 3 14. Totals: 20-9-50

SYCAMORE (13-12): Karisa Grandison 4 0 8; Maddy Davis 4 0 8; Morgan Bates 1 0 2; Aliah McWhorter 3 0 6; Brianna Counts 5 1 11. Totals: 17-1-35

3-pointers: L 1 (Dudukovich)

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