By Michael Wojtychiw
Kenwood’s Ariella Henigan knew that Young had her team’s number.
“We always seem to take an ‘L’ against Young, so I wanted to make a change for once,” she said.
It’s fair to say that the senior did that and more when the two teams faced off in the Public League’s marquee game of the season at Young.
The Howard University-bound Henigan scored a career-high 36 points, including more than 20 in the second half, helping lead the visiting Broncos to a 69-61 win, cementing their top seed in the upcoming Public League playoffs.
““I just wanted to get the win,” Henigan said.
“They’ve been historically a great program,” Kenwood coach Andre Lewis said when talking about Young’s long-term success. “You just look around this gym, you can see the history here. We are trying to establish ourselves and be a team that can contend for a state title, and so this is big for us.”
One thing that helped the Broncos pull away in the second half was the play of their post players.
Senior Diann Jackson in particular seemed to step up when her team needed her most.
When she wasn’t blocking shots, she was altering them, grabbing big rebounds, and even throwing long outlet passes to Henigan that would result in Kenwood baskets.
“She’s another offensive threat,” Henigan said. “It’s amazing playing with a big who can shoot, dribble and make post moves. It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders.”
“I thought they were hoping to have us adjust to their style, but one of the beautiful things about us is our bigs can move,” Lewis said. “They also understand rim protection, understand that their roles are important.
“We’re not going to go smaller just because they go small. All of our bigs are comfortable playing in space, we know how to communicate and how to adjust.”
Destiny Jackson led the Dolphins with 21points and 11 rebounds, while Gaby Domercant added 19 points, including multiple 3-pointers in key situations in the first half.
Lewis did have some high praise for Henigan.
“She’s — if not the best — one of the best players in the state.”
