Defense Prevails as Cougars Top Braves

Defense and communication.

Those are the keys to a winning formula, and the Kennedy girls basketball team proved that point when they visited Syosset last night and wound up with a 38-35 victory.  

"It was a great game," Kennedy coach Debra Cipolla-Minafo said. "We made a lot of good plays tonight."

Both teams came out of the gate a little bit sloppy, and it took a while for either team to find a rhythm. One key for Syosset was to establish the presence of their center, Lauren Maturo, who started to make some plays down low. It looked like she was going to be a dominant presence, but Taylor Kruter had other plans.

"Taylor really shut their big player down," Cipolla-Minafo said. "We also did very nice work with the help defense on her, and she wasn't really a factor.

The first quarter continued to be a defensive struggle, and it ended with Kennedy holding the slim lead of 13-11. As the second quarter commenced, the Cougars did an excellent job of forcing turnovers, but Syosset was showing some impressive defensive skills as well.

"I thought we did very well defensively," said Syosset coach Doug Schumacher, who is enjoying his 10th year as a Braves' coach. "We need to grow offensively. That Bellmore team is very good and quick. I was very impressed."

The Cougars (5-4) expanded their lead to seven when some turnovers led to some easy layups for Kruter, and when all was said and done at the half, Kennedy had a six point lead.

After the second half began, the game's theme of "defense" continued to prevail. Neither team was making their shots, and Kennedy continued to maintain their seven point lead.

Then there was a scare for Syosset. Leading scorer Victoria Savarese went down after driving to the basket, and she clutched her knee in pain. After consulting with the trainer, Savarese was able to get up and managed to even stay in the game, and the crowd let out a collective sigh of relief.

"It was just a Charlie horse," said Savarese, who led the Braves with 10 points on the evening. "I was able to continue playing. It's hard to follow up on a championship legacy, but we are getting much better."

Syosset (4-5) is coming off of a championship season, but they lost four players, three of whom were all-county selections.

The third quarter ended with the Cougars up by four, but they gave Syosset every chance to get back in the game. As the fourth quarter continued, Syosset missed a lot of open looks, and they would eventually succumb to the Kennedy trap.

Syosset would trim the Kennedy lead to three, but stifling defense prevented the Braves from getting a quality chance to tie the score, and Allie Keller was very proud of the troops as she watched from the sideline. Her team had secured a 28-35 victory.

"I need to make sure everyone keeps their head up," said Keller, who was speaking of her responsibility as a team captain. "We need to stop panicking when the other team applies pressure. It's part of the game."

Both Keller and Morgan Kitton both spent the last couple of minutes on the bench after fouling out.

Kitton led the way in points for Kennedy with 12 points, and Kruter finished a close second with 10 points.

One breath of fresh air for the Cougars was the play of Carly Thea, who was the Cougars' energizer bunny for the night.

"I need to keep up the energy," Thea said. "I love that everyone contributed tonight. I have a really good feeling about this season."