Trailing 35-30 with under six minutes remaining, Simon Kenton head coach Brenden Stowers turned to his star sophomore guard Brynli Pernell.
Pernell delivered, scoring 11 of the team’s 15 fourth quarter points in a 45-37 comeback victory for the Pioneers.
After being held to just three first half points, Pernell, who is the team’s leading scoring averaging over 18 a game, knew it was on her to lead her team to victory.
“I just knew I had to step up for my team to win,” said Pernell. “I knew that in the first half I was not playing my game, but I was still there for my team and I knew that we would always come back.”
Pernell, who has done a majority of her damage behind the arc at 45% from three coming into the game, adapted to what Dixie’s defense was doing and found a variety of ways to score. In that brilliant fourth quarter performance, Pernell scored eight straight points in the paint, including grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back in to snatch back the lead.
“I know teams are going to shadow that and make sure that I don’t shoot threes,” said Pernell. “Last year I figured out I’m a really good driver, especially through contact.”
Although it was her driving that gave the Pioneers the lead, it was her deep 3-pointer that was the dagger. Leading 40-37 with just a few minutes remaining, Pernell pulled up from way downtown to put a stamp on her masterful day on the court.
“I was just really feeling it,” said Pernell. “I saw the girl’s hand down, and I knew that I had to take the chance. So I took it. It felt really good to do it for my team and get them up and energized with me.”
Simon Kenton got some key stops and salted the game away for a 45-37 victory to push their record to 6-1.
“We have a team of fighters,” said Stowers. “And they like to fight.”
Simon Kenton fell behind 12-3 in the first quarter, making only one shot in the quarter. The second quarter gave a glimpse of what was to come. Shots slowly began to fall and Simon Kenton began to apply pressure.
The third quarter saw it all come to fruition. Breaking through on the offensive side opened up the Pioneers ability to press and double team the Dixie ball handlers, down one of their key guards in Asia Carner due to injury. This flustered the Colonels and led to plenty of steals and easy baskets. What was one point a 24-16 third quarter lead for the Colonels turned into a 30-29 lead for the Pioneers, their first lead since 3-2.
“We came out of halftime, we got that very first stop and we came down and scored,” said Stowers. “We were able to start opening things up and getting into that press and then start really getting them to wear down and making them make decisions that we wanted them to make.”
Turnovers haunted Dixie as they finished the game with more than 25. Fatigue also played a factor, due to Carner’s injury and another one suffered during the physical nature of this game, Dixie only went six-deep.
“Turnovers is the story of the entire game,” said Dixie Head Coach Joel Steczynski. “You’re not gonna win many games when you turn the ball over that much.”
Simon Kenton’s double teaming press forced Dixie to make quick and often errant decisions with the ball.
“We just need to find players that can step into that role,” said Steczynski. “Be able to see the court, survey the court and make good decisions.”
Dixie, who is now 4-2, heads to Newport Central Catholic Friday night at 7:30 p.m. to face the Thoroughbreds. The Pioneers also play their next game Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at home against Walton-Verona in a 32nd District battle.
Pioneers 45, Colonels 37
Simon Kenton – 3-9-18-15 – 45
Dixie Heights – 12-8-11-6 – 37
Scoring
Simon Kenton (45) – Pernell 25, Webb 10, Gadzala 6, Blevins 2, Flynn 2
Dixie (37) – Crawford 11, Moore 10, Buddenberg 6, Thelen 6, Brooks 4
3-Pointers made: SK 5, Dixie 0
Free Throws: SK 6/10, Dixie 7/9
Records: Simon Kenton 6-1, Dixie Heights 4-2