2nd HS Basketball Playoff game article

Kell girls roll past Habersham Central

• By Chris Drummond MDJ Sports Correspondent

• Feb 27, 2021

MARIETTA — Crystal Henderson scored a game-high 16 points to help lead Kell to a 50-32 victory over Habersham Central in the second round of the Class AAAAAA state tournament on Friday. The Lady Longhorns will host the winner of Saturday’s game between Westlake and Brunswick in the state quarterfinals on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

“She is just phenomenal. Kell coach Tony Ingle said about Henderson. “She’s a great leader, fun to be around and fun to watch.” Henderson would scored nine of her points in the first quarter to help the Lady Longhorns take an early 12-8 lead.

Sylvia Kahoro scored 11 of her 14 points in the second quarter to extend the lead to 28-16. Jada Green finished with six points and nine rebounds, Jamiah Gregory had five points and six rebounds and Amaya Moss added three points, nine rebounds and four blocks. The Kell defense clamped down and did not allow Habersham Central to score more than 11 points in any quarter.

“We had a great season, improving from last year,” Raiders coach William Bradley said. “We just ran into a much better team than we are right now.”

The Lady Longhorns would limit Habersham Central to only seven points in the third quarter.

“We were just competing the whole game and this team likes taking on challenges,” Ingle said. “They took on the challenge to lock them up and did just that.”

Nyke Brown had a team-high 15 points for Habersham Central.