by Dennis McCall
Taft Midway Driller
COMPTON – Kennedy Kunce and Carrie Graham provided the spark as Taft College held off El Camino-Compton Center here Saturday afternoon for the Cougars third straight victory.
Sophomore center Kunce, a Taft High product, and freshman guard Graham each scored 18 points to lead TC's 68-63 victory. Kunce also pulled down 12 rebounds.
"Kennedy has been a real key for us, especially when we were down to seven players because of injuries," said head coach Tyrone Taylor. "She's been playing well."
The 5-foot-10 center sank 5-of-10 shots from the field but was especially effective at the free throw line where she made 8-of-11 to lead the Cougars to a 20-of-26 team effort.
That was the difference maker because El Camino-Compton managed just 10-of-23 from the charity stripe.
Kunce and 6-foot-2 Emilee Davidson have been the catalyst for the Cougars' three-game winning streak.
"We try to get the ball to them as much as we can," Taylor said.
Davidson scored 10 points and had seven rebounds.
The Cougars won two games in the Ventura tournament to capture the consolation title and set up the three-game streak.
"Winning the consolation title at Ventura was a big confidence booster for us," Taylor said.
TC's 0-7 start included playing some of the top teams in the state and three games without starters Angie Banks and Chantia Jones.
Banks scored nine points and had 12 rebounds in Saturday's win at Compton and Jones scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds.
"Things are pretty difficult for us when we have just seven players," Taylor said.
Synclaire Lucas had scored four points and had six rebounds as Taft out-boarded the Tartars 49-33.
The Cougars started out cold while the Tartars jumped out 6-0. Taft's first points came on a Kunce jumper five and a half minutes into the game.
TC's first lead (19-18) came at 6:30 on a layup by Kunce.
It was tied at 21 before Graham's layup with 4:40 left in the half gave the Cougars the lead for good.
It was 33-28 at the half.
The Cougars came out hot after the break with Graham and Lucas hitting back-to-back three-pointers and Kunce a layup for a 13-point lead.
The Tartars, still looking for their first win in six starts, drew close on several occasions but were never able to reel the Cougars back in.
TC will try to extend the winning streak at next weekend's tournament hosted by San Diego City College.
The Cougars open with Glendale College (2-6) Friday at 4 p.m. and will play either L.A. Southwest (3-4) or Mira Costa (1-5) on Saturday.
Other tourney teams are Imperial Valley (0-5), Victory Valley (2-7), S.D. City (1-4) and Central Wyoming.