Lady Cougars Down Jets

Sometimes a win is not pretty, but it sure does get the job done.

That was certainly the case last night as the Lady Cougars were able to slide past the hometown East Meadow Jets by the score of 47-39.

This was a game that featured a lot of mistakes, but luckily for the Kennedy, East Meadow make their own mistakes at the right time.

"We got a little spurty," coach Debra Cipolla-Minafo said. "We were playing a bit nervous out there."

Kennedy (6-2) had reason to be nervous from the get go. East Meadow was applying constant pressure from the opening tip, and that led to some mistakes.

Offensively, the Cougars were getting some good looks, but their open jumpers were not finding the basket.

"When you play against the zone and our jumpers aren't falling like that, you know it's going to be tough," Cipolla-Minafo said. "We needed to scratch and claw tonight."

One reason why the Cougars were having some trouble was the play of Brittany Anghel, who was establishing her presence on the inside for the Jets.  She got Taylor Kruter into foul trouble, and that forced Kennedy to change its game plan a bit.

Credit should go to Kennedy though, as it made sure not to fall back by too much, and the first quarter ended with the Cougars trailing by the score of 12-9.

The second quarter was a bit of a horror show for Kennedy, and Cipolla-Minafo was forced to pull out the entire lineup to give them a chance to calm down.

"They were just playing awful out there," Cipolla-Minafo said. "They were getting nervous and turning the ball over. I just wanted them to take a deep breath."

Kennedy was able to keep it close, though, and they headed into the half down 23-21.

After the Cougars got called for four traveling violations and missed countless shots to start the third quarter, they finally broke the scoring drought, but by then half of the third period had already passed by.

"We did a nice job of maintaining our composure," Carly Thea, one of the team's captains, said. "Allie, Taylor and I tried to pump up our teammates, and we were able to regain some confidence."

Thea finished with seven points, four of which came from the free throw line to seal the deal in the final minute.

After falling behind by nine, the Cougars were able to pick up their play. East Meadow went on a bit of a cold spell, and Allie Keller's jump shot started heating up.  The third quarter ended with the Cougars down by a manageable 33-29 score.

Kennedy came out like they wanted to make a statement in the fourth, and the message was definitely received. Keller hit a shot to put the Cougars ahead by one, 34-33.

As the fourth quarter progressed, the game began to feature a plethora of fouls, many of which Cipolla-Minafo was not happy with. One instance had Morgan Kitton getting called for having a hand on a defender's back when she wasn't even near the play. That would turn out to be a big call as Kitton would eventually foul out, but it didn't cost Kennedy in the end.

East Meadow (3-5) couldn't get out of its own way. After executing early, the Jets' shot selection turned sour.  They also started turning the ball over, and before you could blink an eye, Kennedy had a six point lead.

"We played well in spurts," East Meadow coach Bethany Lesueur said. "It was the little things that did us in. There were times where there was an open man, and we took extra steps and got called for traveling. That's going to hurt every time."

Kennedy also stepped up their defense, and one instance had Thea rejecting a Jets' jumper from just inside the three point line. She also gained possession and turned the ball the other way, which led to a Kennedy basket.

"I have to do what I have to do to help us win," Thea said. "Being a captain, I need to execute."

The Jets had one more burst of offense, and they even pulled to within three points with 42.8 seconds on the clock, but it was not enough.

Thea would eventually put the game on ice with four successful free throws in a row, and Kennedy had their second straight win.

"I thought we played well," said Cougar Kerri Stalzer, who scored four points off the bench.   "I need to make sure that I did my job and that we worked as a whole."

"It wasn't pretty," Cipolla-Minafo said. "But I will take it. We need to stop thinking so much. They kept fighting though, and I am happy with the result."

Keller led the way for Kennedy with 16 points.  Anghel led East Meadow with 12 points, but she was bottled up pretty well after the first quarter.

Kennedy will take a two-game winning streak to Calhoun to face the Lady Colts tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.