Calhoun Girls Basketball Lets Kennedy Get By

The Lady Colts of Calhoun had it all going for them Monday night – sweet three point shots from Danielle Lossee, penetrating drives to the basket from Meghan O'Sullivan, muscle and muscle from Jessica Ruggiero and Dana Silvester, and good ball control and distribution from Ellie Rosenblum.

But a first quarter laugher against cross-town rival Kennedy – playing without star Allie Keller – turned into a last minute disappointment, as the Lady Colts lost its regular season finale and dropped to fourth place in Conference AA-III with a 48-45 loss.

"We did our best," Losee said. "It just didn't work out."

It was the second loss of the season in the friendly inter-district rivalry between playoff-bound Calhoun (8-6) and Kennedy (9-5).

Calhoun was led offensively by O’Sullivan, who scored the bulk of her 17 points in the first half. Jessica Ruggiero, who finished with eight points and 16 rebounds, fought intensely inside, and Danielle Lossee had a field day from outside the three-point line. Dana Silvester scored four points and contributed 12 rebounds.

Leading the way for Kennedy was Kitton, who had 16 points, 10 rebounds and a couple of blocked shots inside.

Calhoun looked sharp at the outset, coming out of the box firing on all cylinders. O’Sullivan was particularly effective, scoring 14 of her team’s 16 points in the first half.

But a nice run in the second quarter, punctuated by aggressive ball hawking from Kitton and a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Ferry, made it respectable for the Lady Cougars at the half, down 24-20.

“When we were down 16-5, I didn’t know if we had it in us to come back,” said Debra Cipolla-Minafo, Kennedy coach. “But we stepped it up, pushed the ball down court and played solid defense."

The margin stayed pretty much the same for in the third quarter and a couple of minutes into the fourth, despite Lossee finding her three-point shot and offsetting a greater offensive intensity from Kitton and Thea.

Of note, however, was the shutting down of the O’Sullivan, with a 2-3 defense that seemed to stymie her drives to the basket.  “It was definitely a tough match for us at first. They were really driving to the basket in the beginning,” said Morgan Kitton, Kennedy senior. “But then we dropped into a 2-3 zone and that slowed down [Meghan] O'Sullivan.”

The shift in momentum showed up on the scoreboard in the fourth. Kitton found Baum for a three-pointer, and Hulkower came right back with a bucket to make it a 38-37 game.

A big steal from Thea with 6:26 on the clock set up a one-and one situation for Kitton at the foul line. She calmly knocked both shots down for the 39-38 lead – a lead Kennedy would essentially hold onto until the end.

All of Calhoun’s efforts to climb back on top were thwarted by fast break and transition baskets from Kennedy players, and with the Lady Colts unable to finish their shots, the Lady Cougars came up with the win.

A last second play to tie it up with a three pointer, with six seconds on the clock, went for naught, as the hurried pass miscued and bounded across the mid-court stripe for a back court violation.

"It came down to execution at the end of the game,” said David Radtke, Calhoun coach. “We missed a ton of layups. We had our shots, we just missed them.”