Deerfield rolls to title against short-handed Grant
Physically and mentally drained after hitting her head on her home court on successive days, Grant post Jazzlyn Linbo had little chance of playing in the Bulldogs' tournament finale Saturday morning.
"I wasn't going to let her," Grant coach Kevin Geist said of his 6-foot-2 junior and best player. "She came to me earlier and said she didn't sleep well. We just made her an extra coach."
With Linbo sitting out, Grant had little chance against fellow 10-game winner Deerfield.
Led by freshman guard Lexi Kerstein's 20 points, Deerfield led from start to finish in a 67-29 romp that gave the Warriors the championship of the Grant Holiday Tournament.
Deerfield (11-5) went 4-1 in the tourney, while Grant (10-6) finished 3-2.
"Something we've been talking about a lot this season is never downplaying your opponent and knowing that anyone can come out and win," Deerfield coach Danielle Hoveydai said. "Especially when you play five games (in a tournament) and three games in a row, it's anyone's game, no matter who's injured or who's not. Anyone can have a good game."
Several Deerfield players had good games. The Warriors found out when they arrived at Grant that Linbo would not be playing.
"We knew that would be an advantage for us so we had to get it into the post," Kerstein said. "We knew that we could get it into our big people and they would be doing in-and-outs and looking for us (guards)."
The 5-4 Kerstein was named tournament MVP. She drained a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, as did teammate Demi Friedman, in helping the Warriors outscore the Bulldogs 23-11 for a 35-19 advantage at halftime. Kerstein shot 9 of 12 from the floor and also had 4 steals.
"Lexi played fantastic, and she's only going to get better as her confidence goes up," Hoveydai said. "She's so versatile, and she's got a wonderful, very, very, quick first step. She can shoot outside, but she can also get by you and has a great floater. Her offense is really starting to blossom. Now I'm going to work with her a little more on her defense. She's going to get there, but she's a freshman."
Grant missed its first 7 shots, but back-to-back 3-pointers by MaCalyn Flores got the Bulldogs within 7-6. Her elbow jumper cut Grant's deficit to 12-8 after one quarter.
"It was rough (without Linbo) because we knew that they'd body, but we had Kylie (Whyte) and Ashlyn (Santos) so that helped us a lot," said Flores, who scored 11 points (three 3s) and was named to the all-tournament team along with Linbo. "I just feel we have to come out strong, keep talking to our teammates and push the ball."
Besides Kerstein, Deerfield started two other freshmen in twins Olivia Kerndt (14 points, 5 rebounds) and Morgan Kerndt (4 points, 7 rebounds). Alexandra Tiatia had a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) coming off the bench for the Warriors. Olivia Kerndt was also named to the all-tourney team.
Whyte had a team-high 12 points and 7 rebounds for Grant, which trailed 53-29 after three and didn't score in the fourth.
"I just wanted us to be tough," Geist said. "We allowed them to press us. I was hoping a senior and someone else would step up and say, 'That's enough.' Maybe get a good foul and show that's not how teams should come on your court and embarrass you. I was hoping for that. It didn't happen the way I would have liked."