KIPP keeps streak going with Adidas Legacy XMas Showdown win
The KIPP Collegiate Warriors kicked off the holiday weekend participating in the Adidas Legacy Christmas Showdown, hosted by the Shiloh Generals, as they took on Christian Fenger Academy out of Chicago, looking to extend their current win streak to four in a row.
The Warriors got off to a hot start in the first quarter, jumping out to an 9-2 lead, but a 12-4 run to close out the opening period would give Fenger a 14-13 lead to start the second quarter, in which momentum would stay with Fenger as they would go up by as many as nine points before closing out the first half with a 30-24 lead as turnovers plagued the Warriors throughout the half.
In the third quarter, the Warriors finally seemed to be settled in offensively as they would open up the quarter on an 11-3 run to regain the lead as they went up 35-33 thanks to a Laqwaum Morgan putback, eventually outscoring Fenger 23-9 in the quarter to lead 47-39 heading into the fourth quarter. Resembling the third quarter performance, KIPP would outscore Fenger 18-4 in the final period of play to pick up the 67-51 win.
"Protecting the basketball and playing with energy and effort," KIPP head coach Emanuel Mathis said after the win as he praised his players second half performance which led to their come from behind win. "They brought it in the second half, scoreboard moved, everybody is happy," Mathis said as the Warriors are now on a four game win streak and improved to 7-3 overall on the season.
"We can be the best team, we can be the worst team and the good thing about that is, it's all on us," Mathis said as he shared thoughts on how his team has been playing on their win streak. "If we come to play, we can play with anybody, we've proven that. If we don't come to play, we struggle," Mathis said, adding he and his coaching staff have the responsibility to "make sure the guys are ready to go and they're bring what they have to bring with them every single day," Mathis said.
