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Sunny Conway-Flores scored a team-high 17 points to lead three players in double figures, and the Kennedy girls basketball team's defensive pressure forced 30 turnovers en route to a thrilling 60-54 win over visiting Clarksburg on Friday.

"I was pretty happy overall with the way we played," said Cavaliers coach Kevin Thompson. "We came out with great intensity, but we had some lapses and let them back in the game. We could have folded, but we didn't. I'm proud of the way the girls hung in there."

Kennedy (2-2 overall) dominated the first half, feeding its transition offense by forcing turnovers and getting out on the break. The formula pushed the Cavaliers to a 12-2 run to start the second quarter, highlighted by six consecutive points from Shanta Jordan. When Jordan sank a jumper from the wing with 4 minutes, 40 seconds left until halftime, her team was holding its biggest lead of the night, 29-15.

But Clarksburg, which made just 3 of 19 shots in the first quarter, responded with an 8-0 run of its own and pulled to 29-23 when Anna Hackett took a steal and made an easy layup with 3:24 left. Tia Johnson, who led all scorers with 22 points, added a big 3-pointer with six seconds left to send the Coyotes into halftime down just 37-30.

"Kennedy is a very athletic team; they made us play their game for most of the first half," said Clarksburg coach Sissy Natoli. "But we're not quitters, and I'm proud of the way we came back. We're getting closer to playing a complete game, but we're not there yet."

The Coyotes (2-3) made their move in the third quarter, pulling within two points on a layup from Johnson with 2:20 left. And 34 seconds later, Hackett hit back-to-back layups to give Clarksburg a 46-43 edge.

But that momentum was short-lived. Kennedy's Alicia Hall hit the first of two free throws and Jordan converted a layup with eight seconds left in the quarter to tie it at 46.

The Cavaliers' athletes took over in the game's final three minutes, re-establishing the pressure that had been so effective in the first half.

Conway-Flores hit a pair of jumpers that cut a Coyotes lead to 54-53 with 2:58 to play and added two free throws 18 seconds later to give her team the lead for good. With two turnovers in the final 1:35, Kennedy wrapped up the victory.

In addition to Conway-Flores' efforts, Hall and Jordan each finished with 14 points. Clarksburg's Alexa Walker added 12 points and Hackett chipped in with 11 points in the loss.

"Our intensity was the key; we had it in the beginning and we had it in the end," Conway-Flores said. "We just talked about not wanting to lose, and we were able to get everything back together so that didn't happen."