Cougars Crush Mineola, 64-43

Taking care of the ball and getting high percentage shots is a pretty simple formula for winning high school basketball games.

It also doesn't hurt to have a 6-foot-10 center coming off the bench.

The Bellmore JFK boys basketball team used all of the above on Saturday afternoon to take down non-conference opponent Mineola 64-43 and improve to 2-1 on the season.

The Cougars jumped out to a 10-0 lead at Mineola High School and never looked back.   Thanks to eight first quarter turnovers by Mineola and a huge size advantage, Kennedy scored its first 15 field goals inside the paint.  Kennedy's 6-foot-10 sixth man Brian O'Gorman made the team's first basket outside of the paint with 2:47 remaining in the first half, knocking down a foul line jumpshot for two of his 13 total points.

Kennedy coach Rory Block, now in his 18th season, was pleased with his team's shot selection.  

"We took what they gave us," said Block, whose team had little need for outside shooting because of so many opportunities close to the rim off of back cuts and good picks.  Block, who actually has taught at Mineola High School for the last 15 years, said it's "always an interesting game" when the two teams face off.

O'Gorman checked in midway through the first quarter for Brendan Mills and imposed his will immediately with strong rebounding and a few easy baskets right around the basket.  O'Gorman downplayed his scoring and focused on his defense.  

"I had to do something good replacing Mills," O'Gorman said. "Usually that's dominating the boards."

 Jimmy Bulva, Mineola's 6-foot-6 all-conference forward, led the scoring for the Mustangs with a hard-fought 16 points, but was neutralized by O'Gorman's presence down low.  Said Block about his team's interior defense, "Bulva couldn't get anything because of our size."

Kennedy led 20-2 after the first quarter and 37-17 at the half.   Mineola applied a full-court press in the second half and scored a quick four points, but it wasn't enough to disrupt the Cougars offense, which cruised behind Joey Karo's 11 points, all in the second half.  Karo hit a three-pointer at the 3:50 mark in the third quarter to give the visitors a 44-21 advantage and force a Mineola timeout.

Kennedy's Andrew Kruter led all scorers with a career-high 17 points.  The Mustangs' Thomas Ward added 12 points in the loss.  Mineola fell to 0-2 on the season.

The afternoon's only suspense was whether O'Gorman would give in to the request of some visiting Cougars fans by slam dunking during warm-ups.  

"You're not allowed to [dunk during half time], but I always try to," O'Gorman said.

After teasing the crowd with a few near dunks, O'Gorman quietly threw one down, looked up at bleachers, and grinned.  And 16 minutes later, Kennedy claimed the victory.

Next up, the Cougars host Calhoun this Thursday, December 17, at 6:30pm.