By Michael Wojtychiw

Young girls basketball coach Krissy Harper came into Saturday’s girls basketball Red Division championship game undefeated in city title games as both a coach and a player. The former Young standout won a couple during her time as a player and has coached her alma mater to back-to-back city titles in the past two seasons.

Make that three consecutive seasons after the Dolphins held on to defeat Kenwood for the third consecutive season, 68-60 Saturday evening at Credit Union 1 Arena on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago.

“These girls sitting right here next to me,” she said when asked how she managed to keep the streak alive. “I was telling them before [the game] that I had never lost a city championship as a player or coach and they said ‘Coach, we got you.’

“And they came through. They’re three deep in and I’m five deep in.”

Both teams came out a bit timid, shooting a combined 6-for-27 in the first quarter, but a see-saw battle happened in the second period, where the teams exchanged leads five separate times and were tied once, before the Broncos went into the locker room with a 30-25 halftime lead.

When Talya Tillman put in a basket and hit the ensuing free throw to give the Broncos a 38-29 lead with 5 minutes, 32 seconds remaining in the third quarter, it looked like the top-seeded squad from the Red South-Central might start to pull away.

It wasn’t meant to be, however, as the Dolphins would go on a 13-1 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes to take the lead for good at 40-39 with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.

The impressive part about the comeback is that they did it with all different players. Gabby Domercant and Kiaya Johnson hit 3-pointers, Alana Shields had a bucket, Jackson would knock down three big free throws and then close out the quarter with two buckets for a 44-42 Young lead after three quarters.

“When they went zone, we made some adjustments at halftime and they executed it perfectly,” Harper said. “They took the gaps when the gaps were there, they weren’t rushing. Our post, Lysa [Jones], she came to play today, she helped so much. Our guards controlled the game and now we’re sitting here champions.”

For Young, this was a season of trying to prove the doubters wrong. The team entered the season with no seniors and a lot of inexperience with many of the players on the roster. Couple that with the loss of key players from last season, including now-Arizona freshman Skylar Jones, and some may have felt the Dolphins’ reign as champions would end.

But not if Jackson, Shields and Johnson would have to say anything about it.

“I feel like this one has a little more value because it’s the first time we won without Skylar,” Jackson said. “I know a lot of people said ‘you can’t win without Skylar, y’all can’t do it this year.’ Then we came out and did it.

“I think we were the underdogs coming into this, honestly, because people doubted us. Another city championship. Just hold up threes.”

Jackson led the way for the Dolphins with 27 points, five rebounds and five steals, while Shields and Johnson added 13 points apiece. Ariella Henigan led Kenwood with 24 points before fouling out with 1:41 remaining and her team down just four. Danielle Brooks added 18 points, including five 3-pointers, many of which were from beyond college range.

Both teams now get ready for the state playoffs, where they might face off in the sectional semifinals at Mother McAuley Feb. 20.

“For today, we celebrate tonight,” Harper said. “We remember this moment, so that when we do rematch in 10 days, we can repeat the same thing again.”

“It’s just a fun game every time we play them,” Jackson said.

Photos by Brandon Parker/OSA