The Kennedy boys basketball team won its first Conference AA-III game of the season Friday night, taking it to a strong Elmont team on the Spartans' own turf and posting a dramatic 52-48 win.
The Cougars (1-0, 1-1 overall) overcame Elmont's quick-handed defense and strong inside game with their own inside-outside game: the one-two punch of Joey Karo and center Brian O'Gorman.
Karo's ability to handle the point guard duties against intense Spartans 'D,' while scoring 16 points and hauling in eight rebounds, was a key to the game. So was the forceful inside work of O'Gorman – 16 points, six rebounds – who used his height advantage to leverage powerful lean-ins and 8-10 foot jumpers against Elmont (1-1, 1-2 overall).
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Will Colon added 13 points and Jason Champagne scrambled for seven rebounds in the win.
"Our game plan was to keep them off the boards as much as we could, on offense and defense," Kennedy head coach Rory Block said. "And to not turn it over. I think it worked pretty well. "I'd like to think our kids made them work for every shot they took."
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It was a seesaw battle, with Kennedy staying close, keeping Elmont from opening up any significant margins, and on occasion taking a one or two-point lead of their own.
The first half was one of increased confidence for the Cougars. O'Gorman was standing tall on defense against Elmont's strong forwards and holding his own on the offensive end. Meanwhile Karo used his strength and speed to bring the ball up court and distribute it effectively to Adrian Rose, Mike Teich and Colon, among others. Down 29-26 with 6.5 seconds left, Karo was hacked going in for a layup, made both his free shots, and Kennedy went into the locker room charged up for second-half action.
The Cougars roared out of the gate in the second half, scoring on a fastbreak set up by a nice inbounds play from Rowe to Teich, who fed Colon for an easy layup. However, an energized Elmont team went on a 10-4 run and opened up a 40-34 lead.
At that point the Cougars could have folded, but just the opposite happened. In a matter of minutes, they turned the game around and made it 42-40 with a run of their own after O'Gorman hit an eight-foot jumper and Karo hit a pair of silky three-point shots.
"They both stepped up their game when it counted," Block said.
But the duo wasn't finished.
As the fourth quarter began, Kennedy was up 42-41 and it was clear the game was going to go down to the wire.
Down to the wire it went, with Elmont opening up a 48-44 lead with three minutes to go. At 2:50, O'Gorman cut it by one on a free throw after leaning in and drawing the foul. Two turnovers later, Rose drove into the paint and drew another foul to cut it to 48-46 with 1:58 to go.
Seconds after his free throw, Rose stole an errant Knight pass and got the outlet to Colon, who drained his third three-pointer of the evening to put Kennedy up 49-48 with 1:12 to go.
Elmont attempted to scratch their way back into it in the final seconds, but failed. A key defensive rebound for O'Gorman with 22.4 on the clock put the Spartans in a must-foul situation, and it was Karo who went to the line twice, knocking down three free throws to seal the victory.
"The three from Colon was huge," Block said. "It put us ahead. Adrian Rose took an awesome charge down the stretch for us. And then Joey hit those tremendous free throws at the end."
Who's Next? Dec. 21, Kennedy @ Mepham, 6:15 p.m.
