After losing to top-ranked Holy Names three weeks ago, the Kennedy Catholic girls basketball team has been on a mission.

The fifth-ranked Lancers have won six consecutive games by 35 points or more, including a convincing 92-52 win over Tyee on Friday night.

The Seamount League champion Lancers (19-1 overall, 14-0 in league) now move on to district play, drawing seventh-ranked Auburn-Mountainview (16-4, 9-1) on Friday at Lakes High School in Tacoma.

Against Tyee, Alli Madison and University of Washington recruit Aminah Williams combined for 39 points and 21 rebounds to lead Kennedy. Madison had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Williams scored 19 points and had 11 rebounds.

The two players' damage was done in less than three quarters of play because Lancers coach John Barbee chose to start senior reserves in their place on Senior Night at Kennedy High School.

"Kennedy has an excellent program," said Tyee coach Wayne Severson. "I give two thumbs up to coach Barbee for letting those seniors start the first quarter."

Tyee (8-6, 11-9) made a game of it early on with athletic guard Arinesha Smith hitting outside shots and scoring on slashing drives. She scored 10 first-quarter points, propelling the Totems to an 18-16 lead.

When Madison and Williams checked in in the second quarter, however, things changed dramatically.
The Lancers, with their transition game working to near perfection, scored 29 points in the second quarter, jumping to a 45-32 lead.

Madison scored 13 points in that flurry, including two three-pointers and several easy layups on beautiful feeds off outlet passes, one by Williams, on the fast break. Williams would score eight straight points, one on an outlet pass from Vivienne McClean, and Madison would add six to help the put the game away, 64-34, in the third quarter. Madison and Williams each had six defensive rebounds and guard Jasmine Lemon had seven assists in the game.

It's the little things, like execution of outlet passes, that Barbee has been impressed with in his Lancers in their winning streak.

"They always strive to be better players," said Barbee, who added that his team has responded well after that tough loss to Holy Names, a team that has a good inside-outside game like Kennedy and tough defensive pressure.

Tyee, on the other hand, has been a team in flux. They have been beset by several late-season injuries, including one in this physical game, Morgan Reader (back).

"We've been playing with a makeshift lineup," said Severson, who had four junior varsity players come up and pick up the slack.

"Our season started out really well, now we've been up and down a little bit, but we made districts."

Tyee plays the Olympic League's No. 3 seed at Clover Park at 8 p.m. Friday.

"We're trying to get the girls to work harder, to get better on the traps and the press," Severson said.
Smith had a team-high 19 points and five steals and guard Taylor Marlow had eight steals and six assists.
For Kennedy, Lemon had 13 points and Kelsey Trautmann added 10. The Lancers outrebounded the Totems, 56-26.