Kennedy Girls Basketball Takes Early Exit From Playoffs Against Freeport

The Kennedy Lady Cougars basketball team had their season cut short on Thursday night, as they fell on the road to the Freeport Lady Red Devils in the first round of the Class AA playoffs, 59-46.

Senior Carly Thea led the ninth-seeded Lady Cougars in her final high school game with 16 points. Monique Jones led the eighth-seeded Lady Red Devils with a game and season-high 27 points.

Freeport started off strong in front of their home crowd with an 11-3 lead after four minutes. However, Kennedy battled right back with a 10-2 run of their own -- six points by Thea and four by senior Morgan Kitton -- to end the first quarter trailing 16-15.

Kennedy took their first lead on the opening possession of the second quarter after a jumper by Stacy Wolfson. But that lead would change seven more times in the quarter as the two teams began to display the intense playoff feel that the crowd was looking for. Freeport held onto their one-point cushion heading into halftime, 28-27.

The Red Devils took advantage of an already shorthanded Kennedy team, which was playing without senior captain Allie Keller, and went on an 8-0 run in the third quarter. The Lady Cougars did not get on the board until Victoria Ferry hit a three-pointer with three minutes remaining, but went on a quick 5-0 run before ending the quarter behind, 40-36.

With Kitton mixed in with foul trouble, Freeport went on a 13-2 run largely in part to the Lady Cougars’ eight fourth-quarter turnovers. Kennedy had 18 turnovers in the second half. Freeport was able to outplay Kennedy down the stretch to pull out the 13-point win and set up a second-round meeting with top-seeded Baldwin.

“We did a great job, coming out to play and playing hard. It was just a great game,” Kennedy head coach Debra Cipolla-Minafo said. “Overall, I think we had some great wins this season, but having Allie [Keller] out in the end hurt us. However, I think all of the girls had a great effort.”

Heroes: Jones came up big with her 27 points, scoring just five points less than the rest of her team combined.

Thea had a solid game with 16 points and was forced to carry the bulk of the workload with the absence of Keller and the second half foul trouble for Kitton.

Turning Point: Kennedy and Freeport played over 12 minutes spanning between the first and second quarters with neither team leading by more than three points. Freeport did not pull away until their big run to start the fourth quarter that ultimately downed the visiting Lady Cougars.

Quotable: “As the season went on, everybody stepped it up and knew what was on the line,” Thea said. “I have never seen a team play so well in a year. The chemistry and the way we played together was fantastic, and it is just unfortunate how it ended.”

Bottom Line: Kennedy had a stellar season despite the early playoff exit and surprised a lot of their opponents along the way. The Cougars finished in third place in Conference AA-III and went 9-5 against their conference opponents.

Key Stat: Kennedy could have very well pulled away against Freeport, but a total of 28 turnovers compared to 18 for Freeport ultimately was the deciding factor.