Girls basketball: Kendra Brown’s shooting, strong defense lead Kaneland past L-P

LA SALLE - Kaneland junior Kendra Brown hasn’t been shooting as well recently as she’s accustomed.

She turned things around Friday.

Brown drained 5 of 11 3-pointers and scored 20 points, nearly outscoring La Salle-Peru herself in a 50-21 Interstate 8 Conference victory.

“I felt like having players move and set really good screens helped so much for getting open,” Brown said. “Being in a slump for a while and coming back and hitting a few 3s felt really nice.”

The Knights struggled on offense early, scoring only four points through the first 6:42.

But back-to-back 3s by Lexi Schueler and Brown got the Kaneland offense going and gave the Knights a 10-5 lead after one quarter.

“I think we had pictures back to last year when we lost by 20 here and they held us to 24 points. When Lexi made that 3, I think it took a weight off their shoulders and play a little more free and it showed the rest of the game,” Kaneland coach Brian Claessen said.

The Knights (7-2, 2-0 I8) led 23-9 at halftime and pushed it to as many as 23 points in the third quarter on Brown’s third 3 of the period.

“She’s a knockdown shooter for us,” Claessen said. “When she’s hot like that, it makes the defense really focus on her and that kind of opens up other things for Lexi Schueler, Sam Kerry and other girls. I thought, especially after the first quarter, we were moving the ball really well, making the extra pass, getting open shots, finding Kendra, getting the hot hand the ball, setting good screens, all that.”

L-P coach Adam Spencer said Brown was highlighted in the Cavs’ scouting report, but she’s a tough player to stop.

“We knew Brown is a very, very good player,” Spencer said. “She can shoot. She can finish. She was the best player on the floor. On the board, the first thing was ‘No. 23 is the engine. Try not to help off of her.’ But she’s a basketball player. She sets the tone. It helps to have a stud.”

While Brown and the Kaneland offense got going, the defense played a big part, as well, limiting the Cavaliers to 18.4% shooting and forcing 25 turnovers.

“Defense is one of our main things we do really well,” Brown said. “I felt we were very aggressive. Our jumping to the ball was really good. Ball pressure also was a main key. Being in help defense was very important when they have girls who are taller than us.”

For the Cavs, it was their fourth straight game scoring 35 points or fewer.

“We struggled with the pressure,” Spencer said. “That’s the M.O. of the season. They were aggressive. They switched everything. We need to finish a couple layups. This week, we’re averaging 20% from the field. You’re not going to win any games when you’re shooting 20%, missing half your free throws and turning the ball over 20 times.

“We just have to figure it out. We have to handle some pressure. We need some guards to step up.”

Along with Brown’s 20 points, Schueler scored 12, Kyra Lilly had seven points, and Kerry added six.

Jasmine Garman and Addie Duttlinger scored eight points each for L-P (4-6, 0-2).