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Tampa Catholic girls win tournament title

 
Published Dec. 23, 2016

TAMPA — The game plan was working early in Palm Harbor University's favor. Senior Kiana Chew was playing solid defense under the basket, while at the same time keeping Tampa Catholic's Alise Davis in check.

The Hurricanes jumped out to a 10-2 lead, but Tampa Catholic adjusted, used good ball movement to draw the 6-foot-4 Chew out, and cut PHU's lead to one by the end of the quarter.

From there, the Hurricanes defense faltered and Tampa Catholic showed the teamwork that has kept it undefeated, claiming the Crusader Christmas Classic title with a 62-51 win on Thursday night.

"We knew they were going to try and keep Alise off the glass," said Tampa Catholic coach Matthew Rocha. "The great part about this team though is we have a lot of weapons, so once we figured out exactly what they were doing, we knew our focus was to pull Kiana out."

Tampa Catholic (14-0) took the lead early in the second and never relinquished it. Back-to-back steals from Taylor Butler got the Crusaders fastbreak rolling and gave them the advantage.

For Palm Harbor (9-3), the early flurry included eight points for Julia Ingram, who scored a game-high 24. But the Hurricanes defense wasn't consistent the rest of the game.

"The first four minutes of the game, that was great defense by us and I think Tampa Catholic, which is a really good team, got a little flustered," said Palm Harbor coach Darian Dublin. "We started giving them lanes to the basket … I want kids to understand you have to play defense the whole way. The only time you get to stop is when you are sitting on the bench. If you are on the court, you've got to play."

Tampa Catholic adjusted to PHU's early success of stifling Davis under the net. And as more and more plays from the perimeter caused Chew, an Arizona commit, to have to go out to defend, the Crusaders leader found a rhythm, scoring 10 of her 14 in the second half.

Tanyia Gordon led the Crusaders with 15, while Cheyenne Daphney scored nine and Butler and Ashley Sieper each finished with eight.

Chew added 10 for the Hurricanes with Kayli Hoummard chipping in 12. PHU only got five points from the rest of the team.