ROCKFORD — Nisreen Al-Basha and the Keith girls basketball team kept their composure and rallied late to defeat Faith Christian (Williams Bay, Wis.) 50-39 on Thursday.
Al-Basha scored 13 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter, while junior Nishawnda Smith had 19 points to lead the way for Keith (9-4, 4-1) against Faith Christian (5-4,3-1), the defending Indian Trails Conference champions.
For Al-Basha, the victory was extra special after losing twice to Faith last season.
“This year, we are playing more to win,” Al-Basha said. “We went into last year as a building year, so we were just trying to play better.”
The addition of Smith and guard Trinesha Cornell, who both transferred from Auburn along with five freshmen, has increased Keith’s depth.
“I told the girls that our job was to build off last year,” Keith coach Doc Cornell said. “Every team that beat them last year did so because of lack of depth, not lack of talent. Now, we have 14 girls on the team and we are able to go deeper.”
Everything started to go the Cougars way in the fourth quarter as they battled back from an eight-point deficit at the end of the third.
Al-Basha’s 3-pointer broke a 33-33 tie midway the fourth to give Keith the lead at 36-33. She went on to score her team’s next three baskets.
“We had to hustle in that final quarter,” said Al-Basha, a sophomore. “The defense stepped up and we were able to stop them.”
“In the first half, they (Faith Christian) controlled the game,” Cornell said. “In the second half, we were able to play our up-tempo fast-break game.”
Nicole Ackatz led Faith Christian with 15 points.
- Brenda Young, rrstar.com
