Girls basketball: Kents Hill blows past Monmouth to remain undefeated

MONMOUTH — The best version of the Kents Hill girls’ basketball program was shown Wednesday night.

At least for a quarter.

Kents Hill blew off a slow start with a 23-2 run in the second quarter, sending the undefeated Huskies to a 50-40 Class C South win over Monmouth that wasn’t as close as the end result suggested. Senior Logan McDonald led Kents Hill (15-0) with a game-high 23 points while classmate Rose Jenkins added 16 more.

The Huskies, currently second in the regional rankings with just a handful of games left before the tournament begins, got off to the best start to the program as a member of the Maine Principals Association.

“It’s a pretty cool thing on campus,” said McDonald, who scored 17 of her 23 goals in the second period. “We are in a different league than everyone else at our school. Knowing that we’re doing really well and that people now know about it and appreciate us feels kind of good. I am proud of our team.”

Kents Hill scored the first 15 points of the second quarter after leading 9-4 in the first eight minutes. The Huskies shot exactly 50 percent from the field (10 of 20) in the crucial period, with McDonald giving up 3-pointers on back-to-back drives for a 27-6 lead with 2:44 by halftime.

Defensively, Kent’s Hill forced Monmouth (10-4) into four turnovers and just two field goals in the quarter – the first of which was Reese Beaudoin’s jumper after more than five minutes – and kept the Mustangs on six one-and-done possessions.

If there’s anything Kents Hill have struggled with this season, it’s gotten off to a quick start on the road.

“We’re not very used to playing away from home,” McDonald said. “We have long home games and then long away games. It’s all about getting into a rhythm with the warm-ups when you’re not at your home gym. When you’re not at home, it only makes things more difficult.”

“Since we’re going to be at the (Augusta) Civic Center in the playoffs and it’s away, we have to focus on coming out strong,” said Jenkins, who made the low post to her office for 10 points in offensive rebounds. “We really just dialed in (in the second quarter). We were moving the ball around and sharing the ball with each other and I think that really led to those runs. It’s just an aggressive mindset – if we do that, we’ll get offensive boards, and if we’re in the zone and doing that, layups will fall.”

Monmouth’s Kaitlyn Frost scored a team-high 16 points in the second half. She drilled a trio of Treys in the final period to break Kents Hill’s 42-23 lead through three-quarters. The Mustangs ended the night on a 9-0 run, all but Frost’s final treble coming after the Huskies emptied the bench in favor of their reserves.

“When we screw our heads up and play like we’re supposed to, I think we’re usually pretty good,” said Kents Hill coach RJ McDonald, now in his fifth season at the helm having beaten the previous 15 Years spent coaching the school’s boys’ team. “We didn’t play a great game tonight. It was quite a mess, honestly. When we’re at our best, we use our quick guards and athleticism to get out there and run, we share the ball and attack the color.

“Our rebound margins have been really good this year, both offensively and defensively, and we salute them. We also bought defensively. We know we need to be able to defend to get where we want to go. If you have nights when you can’t toss it in the ocean, if you can play defense you have a chance.

” previous

similar posts