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KES Prep knocks off Florida Prep in Arizona




After battling hard in the first two games  in the Nike Tournament of Champions, but coming up short including a 57- 46 loss on Thursday to Normal Community High School (Illinois), the KES Prep team came out with a different energy and confidence, and knocked off Florida Prep 71 - 66. 

Claire Englehutt led the way early, with some excellent post offence, executing several text book post moves to lead to easy baskets that established an early 4 point lead, which was the highest margin between the teams for the first quarter. Defensively, Claire was a force to be reckoned with, and the opposition (and the referees) were caught off guard with her physical play and no back down mental approach, Aaliyah Arab-Smith was in full control of the offence and challenged the teams with quick first step drives, and found her shooting touch in the second quarter that made it very difficult to guard. Heavyn Beals has turned into a zone killer, and was the dangerous 3 point shooter other teams are now trying to defend, and was instrumental in pushing KES led after the first half by 12.  

The 2nd half saw Mackenzie Smith assert herself, finishing off several drives and hit a few important jump shots. Savannah Provo provided the jump and aggressiveness to keep us ahead throughout the game, but logged some important minutes both on the scoreboard, rebounding, and defensively. Savannah displayed the leadership as one of our Captains that was needed to carry us to the win. Julia Strickey had 2 important three pointers to keep our roll going, and made some excellent reads of passes to find her teammates that led to made baskets in crucial times in the game. Of course, we cannot forget Briar MacDonald, and Laura MacKinnon, who continue to catch opposition by surprise, with how tall, long, agile and skilled they are.

As time ticked away, the game got very close, with KES holding on to a slim 4 point lead late in the 4th quarter, before control of the game was established by the Canadian crew late in the game, and they closed out the game to win by 5.  

The entire team contributed in big ways during this game, and the outcome would have been different if everyone wasn't involved. Once again, fans, officials and opposing coaches had so many favorable things to say about the KES Girls. One of the referees mentioned to me 'I wish you guys could play here the whole year, as I have not had the pleasure of referring a game with kids that played hard, but are so well mannered, and displayed awesome sportsmanship. A lot of kids, coaches and teams could learn a lot from those girls..."  

KES Prep Basketball plays its last game in the tournament tomorrow vs the Winner of a game between teams from Arizona and California at 11:30 Mountain time, 2:30pm Atlantic time. 


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King’s-Edgehill School is located in Mi'kma'ki, the unceded ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq People.