The Demons, who led by as much as 12 points in the first half, slowly
unraveled in the second half, in which they were outscored by Meyers, 38-27.
The Mohawks were able to get the ball inside to Kim Maguire (24 points) and Cyndi Wasilius (19 points), who combined for 34 of their team's 38 second-half points.
Kennett also hurt itself by shooting poorly and turning the ball over too often.
"By far, that was our worst offensive of the year, defensive too," Hoffman said. "(Meyers) took advantage of what we didn't do. We were tentative and shy. We weren't aggressive at all."
Ironically, it was a bit of extra aggressiveness that helped to bury the Blue Demons, when guard Renie Amoss barreled into Maguire to stop the clock with Meyers up by 2 and 17 seconds left. Amoss was whistled for a flagrant foul, Maguire sank one of her two free throws to increase the lead to three points, and Meyers - which retained possession of the ball - ran the clock out.
Kennett went on a 16-0 run over a 5-minute period that spanned the end of the first and beginning of the second quarter to take a 21-9 lead with 6:08 remaining in the first half.
The Mohawks, however, were able the cut the lead to 28-20 by halftime. Led by 8 points apiece from Maguire and Wasilius, they outscored Kennett 20-15 in the third quarter to cut the Blue Demons' lead to 43-40 entering the final period.
The Mohawks then outscored Kennett in the fourth quarter, 18-12.
Meyers was able to get the ball inside in the second half, especially after Kennett center Lynn Williams was forced to sit out much of the third quarter with three personal fouls.
"We switched from a 2-3 zone to a 1-3-1 to put some pressure on the shooters up top in the second half after we saw that we weren't having too much trouble inside," Meyers coach Carol Thorpe said.
Thorpe said she considered the victory an upset since the Mohawks were playing without injured starting point guard Jen Hawk.
"I don't think anyone expected us to win," Thorpe said. "This was a great game for us. We didn't know much about Kennett, but I can see they are a good team. This makes the long (3 1/2-hour) ride home a lot easier."
Hoffman agreed that the outcome was somewhat of a surprise.
"I don't want to put (Meyers) down. They're a good team and they deserved to win, but I think I expected to win," Hoffman said. "We just made too many mental mistakes."
Kennett's Amoss (18), Williams (14) and Jackie Schiavoni (12) all reached double figures in scoring. Kennett finished its season at 20-4. The victory improved Meyers' record to 26-4.
"I'm happy we won the league and the district. That's an accomplishment in itself," Schiavoni said. "But to end the season on a game where we didn't play near our full potential really hurts."
