Assumption coach Caryn Kovatch credited the student section for helping her team beat Frederick Douglass Friday. (Tonia Witt/KHSAA Photo)
No one had to tell Assumption coach Caryn Kovatch how lucky her team was to escape with a 32-30 win Friday in the Clark’s Pump-N-Shop Girls’ Basketball Sweet 16® quarterfinals Friday.
Her team was down 30-24 with just over four minutes to play before closing on an 8-0 run and holding the Broncos scoreless the final 4:04.
“We had no business winning based on how we played,” said Kovatch. “But we hit the shot we needed to win the game. I am so proud of this team, their effort and their heart and how they played together. I never doubted we would win. I just did not know how we would win.”
They won by forcing three straight turnovers after Frederick Douglass missed a 3-pointer with the 30-24 lead. Sophomore Se’Rae Bundrent-Palmer had missed her only shot when she knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:29 to play to make it 30-29. She followed with another 3 inside the final minute for what turned out to be the winning score.
“Se’Rae goes 100 miles per hour the entire game. I am surprised she has any legs left. She has ice in her veins. She is a battler, a competitor. She has not let her team down ever. You want the ball in her hands when it counts,” the Assumption coach said.
Assumption, which beat Frederick Douglass 67-35 on Dec. 9, went eight minutes without a field goal when the Broncos built their lead.
“Can I blame it on the hotel? This was uncharacteristtic of Assumption basketball,” Kovatch said. “The game was slow and we don’t like that. Frederick Douglass is a great team. They are athletic. (Jaelee) Knowles was grabbing every board. They came ready to play. We could not get into a rhythm.
“I trust our defense, I think we have one of the best man-to-man (defenses) you will find in the state. I had to trust we could turn them over.”
Bundrent-Palmer said it was a “lack of confidence” on her part that had limited her to one shot until the final minutes when the shots counted the most.
“It started out rocky for me. As soon as I got the pass (on the game-winning shot) I knew it was going in. That’s how you are taught as a shooter,” she said.
She finished with 7 points while Indiana signee Ashlinn James had 9 but was only 4-for-20 from the field. Assumption was 12 of 40 as a team.
Tamia Waide was 5-for-12 from 3 and led Douglass with 15 points. The Broncos were only 11 of 37 from the field.
Frederick-Douglass coach Daryl Moberly was obviously disappointed his team finished the game the way it did but proud of the way the Broncos fought.
“We came in and I am sure people doubted us. I believed in the girls, they believed and felt like they could win this game,” he said. “Palmer hits one (3) and then hits that dagger. We were getting stops. We wanted to live with them hitting jump shots. She hit two big ones (against the zone defense).
“They beat us good (in December). It was time for us to get our get-back. We competed. We competed. We knocked down shots. We had less turnovers than we did the first game. They were locked in and focused and they thought we could win this game.”
Kovatch knew Assumption (25-5) believes lessons learned during the season — and a rowdy student section — helped her team win.
“I do think winning is a learned habit. There were many times during the year that we had to learn how to win, and this is another learn how to win,” Kovatch said. “We love our student section. They came, they showed up. The support from the Assumption community is unreal and absolutely fuels these girls.”
