Kennedy Girls Basketball Pull Out Win Over Great Neck South on Senior Night

The Kennedy girls basketball team pulled out a close win against Great Neck South on their “Jam the Gym” Senior Night, 49-47. The Lady Cougars (10-6 overall, 8-5) pulled into a tie for third place with rival Calhoun after taking down the Lady Rebels (4-11 overall, 3-10).

Morgan Kitton and Carly Thea led the way for Kennedy with 15 points each. Allison Finkel and Daisy Xu each scored 17 points for Great Neck South in the losing effort.

Playing without Allie Keller because of a shoulder injury, the team opted to start her before taking her out after the first stoppage to allow the senior captain to have that opportunity in her final regular season home game.

Great Neck South took an early lead on Kennedy but six straight points by Kennedy’s other senior captain, Carly Thea, quickly pushed the lead back to her teams' favor. The Cougars jumped out in front 11-4 after the first quarter.

The second quarter seemed to be a period of runs by both sides. First, it was Kennedy with a 10-0 spurt highlighted by three-pointers from Thea and senior Brittany Venezia. Then Great Neck South responded with a 10-0 run of their own, before Kennedy scored the final five points of the half after Victoria Ferry hit a three just before the buzzer to lead 26-14.

At halftime, Kennedy hosted a ceremony for the late Rick Hamilton, a former teacher and girls basketball coach at the school. They presented a jersey with the number 24 on the back, representing the number of years Hamilton was with the school. Kennedy also set up the “Rick Hamilton Memorial Scholarship Fund” that will be given to a member of the girls basketball team each year.

The second half started with the Cougars charging out on a 6-0 run before Great Neck South came back with a big 12-2 run to pull within single digits, largely in part to nine turnovers by Kennedy in the quarter. Nonetheless, Kennedy remained in front after three, 38-29.

Another run by Great Neck South in the final quarter cut the lead to 44-40 with just three minutes to go, the smallest deficit since the opening minutes of the game. Down by just three points and a chance to tie with a minute left, the Rebels committed a costly turnover at half court.

Free throws by Thea and Ferry kept Kennedy in front. Great Neck South had the ball with 10 seconds left under their own basket down 47-45 but were called for a five-second violation, setting up a chance for Kitton to put the game away after being fouled on the next possession. The senior calmly knocked down both shots to eventually close out their Senior Night with the thrilling two-point victory.

Heroes: Kitton, who was named Player of the Game, came through in the clutch with two of her team-leading 15 points in the final seconds. Thea also led the way as the only Cougar to remain on the floor for the extent of the game.

“I think we gave it our all against one of our biggest rivals and it was a great accomplishment,” Kitton said. “I got to the basket and made my foul shots as much as I could to help our team out.”

Turning Point: Although Kennedy led by as much as 18 points in the second half, Great Neck South did not go away. With a chance to tie with just 10 seconds left, the critical turnover ultimately helped Kennedy pull away just enough to hold on for the win.

Quotable: “It felt good to win and they were a little nervous since we knew Allie wasn’t going to be out there, but everybody stepped up,” Kennedy head coach Debra Cipolla-Minafo said. “We have Calhoun next and they of course are our rivals and we are very excited to play them.”

“It was a really good win. Even though we were a player down, people realized they needed to step it up,” Thea said. “This was all of Kennedy who won tonight. It was very special to all of us especially the seniors.”

Bottom Line: Kennedy has definitely had their up’s and down’s this season and the win playing without their leader in Keller showed a lot about the team. The Cougars have solidified their playoff position and will match up against the Calhoun Lady Colts for at chance at third place in the final regular season standings.

Key Stat: Kennedy knocked down five three-pointers in the game compared to just one for Great Neck South.

Who’s Next: Kennedy @ Calhoun, Feb. 14, 6:30 p.m.

Team……………….....1…..2…..3…..4   -   F

Great Neck South….4….10…15…18…..47

Kennedy…………......11….15…12…11….49

G: A.Finkel 17, Xu 17, Chaplin 8, Taylor 2, Epstein 2, Kwang 1. Total: 47. K: Thea 15, Kitton 15, Venezia 6, Wolfson 5, Ferry 4, S.Finkel 2, Klein 2. Total: 49. Three-Pointers: G: Chaplin 1; K: Thea 2, Venezia 2, Ferry 1.