City 4-A Girls’ Semifinals : Locke, Kennedy Reach Title Game

Defending champion Locke High’s girl’s basketball team scored a 55-35 victory over Fremont High at the Sports Arena Friday to advance to next week’s City 4-A final against Kennedy.

Kennedy reached the title game by defeating Washington, 71-52, in Friday’s other semifinal game. Locke and Kennedy met earlier this season, Locke winning, 69-57.

Locke (21-2) did not face much of a test from Fremont (13-6), which was plagued by poor shooting. Fremont kept the game close for the first period, then saw the Saints take control with a 17-3 spurt in the second quarter.

Forward Nancy Clayton, a 6-0 senior, led the surge by scoring 8 of her 19 points, including three layups against the shorter Fremont front line. But the Pathfinders’ 1-for-10 field goal shooting in the second quarter was as much to blame for the run as Locke’s offense.

“There were five shots we missed that should have been made,” Fremont Coach Leonard Belanger said. “If those shots had gone down, it might have been a different story.”

Despite the loss, Belanger was not disappointed, not having expected his team to do this well.

“It was a victory in itself to make it this far,” Belanger said. “And this is the best we have played Locke in three years, so I don’t feel bad at all.”

Fremont’s offense consisted almost entirely of Linda Brumfield, a 5-10 center who finished with 24 points. She scored 14 of those in the second half, while being double- and triple-teamed.

In the Kennedy-Washington game, guard Stacy Parson scored 23 points and center Diane DeCree added 19 to lead the Golden Cougars to their 13th straight win.

Poor shooting coupled with poor shot selection by Washington allowed Kennedy (21-4) to build an 18-point lead in the first half. But forward Monica Cansler and guard Ayesha Brooks combined to score 12 points to cut Kennedy’s halftime lead to 37-25.

Washington’s only real run came at the end of the third quarter and into the first minute of the fourth. A layup by Jacqueline Collins brought the Generals to within seven at 51-44, with a chance to cut the lead to 5.

But Brooks lost the ball out of bounds, and the Golden Cougars then went on an 11-4 run that put the game out of reach.