Girls Basketball: Moten leads Panthers rout

Updated: December 13, 2011 11:13PM

GARY — In most instances, to be called a thief would be less than complimentary. But Morton coach Tom Haluska’s words on Tuesday night were said with the highest regard for Roosevelt senior Kelly Moten.

“Moten, she’s a stealing machine,” Haluska said with a laugh.

During Roosevelt’s 63-38 win over Morton, Moten sparked the defensive intensity that led to the Panthers’ transition offense. Moten scored 29 points — mostly coming on layups — while adding six assists and 12 steals.

“She was the girl that we didn’t have enough contain of,” Haluska said.

Moten began to make her imprint as Roosevelt (6-1) needed to execute a final possession of the first quarter, calmly swishing in a 3-pointer as time expired.

Early in the second quarter, Moten converted a coast-to-coast layup and on the very next play, she stripped the ball free near midcourt and cashed in another fast break opportunity.

“It was just normal for me,” Moten said with a humble smile, “I always step it up.”

Spreading the love, Moten continued her thievery against the Governors’ guards with an inbounds steal and over-the-shoulder assist to senior Tomisha Lee for the open layup.

“I think she took it upon herself to pick up the slack when her teammates picked her up” said Roosevelt coach Ron Swain, who mentioned how Moten got hurt and missed much of the team’s previous game in Chicago.

However, it wasn’t all Moten. In the same quarter, the Panthers showed senior depth with Lee draining a triple and Takita Lenoir working under the offensive boards for a second-chance layup. All of this led to the Panthers cruising to a 36-15 halftime lead and dominating the remainder of the game.

Lenoir finished with a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds while Keonna Baldwin led the Governors in scoring with 15 points.

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