Cougars Pounce on Jets

Eliminate the inside game, and you will win. The formula is just that simple.

That was the case last night as the visiting Cougars were able to deny the East Meadow Jets the paint, and Kennedy cruised to a 48-40 victory.

"We played a very smart fourth quarter," Kennedy Coach Rory Block said. "Adrian Rose had a couple of key baskets, and the team did what they needed to do to get the job done."

East Meadow showed plenty of fight during the contest, but its offense was limited to the perimeter. The Jets hit a number of shots from no-business angles in the first half, but when Kennedy stepped up the pressure in the second half, East Meadow was left puzzled, and defeat followed shortly thereafter.

"We shot poorly and didn't rebound enough," East Meadow Coach Barry Dickson said. "Bellmore is well coached and they play smart. They are very good at controlling the glass."

Both teams took a while to find their rhythm Monday, and both teams became increasingly frustrated with the refereeing. Combine that with some big three-pointers by East Meadow, and the game was tied after one quarter at 10-10.

The Cougars started to establish a more fluid game in the second quarter, and their passing was more crisp and effective. Brian O'Gorman and Brendan Mills also got their inside game going and that allowed Kennedy to score some easy points, and before you knew it, it was 21-19 Kennedy at the half.

But the Jets were acting as a thorn in the side to Kennedy, and they continued to stick around with their excellent outside game. The Cougars then stepped up the intensity, and they were able to pull away.

"We needed to keep going at 100 percent and give all we've got," said Brendan Mills, who ended up with a double double on the night. "We need to play a complete game, but we did a good job tonight."

The Cougars had a bit of a scare toward the end, as they were forced to endure one final flurry from the Jets. The lead was down to four at one point, but Adrian Rose nailed a huge three pointer that acted as the dagger.

East Meadow was never able to overcome the adversity.

O'Gorman was a defensive force on Monday night, and he knows that defense must be his focal point.

"Everyone expects me to play defense," O'Gorman said. "I make sure that I make defense my number one priority, and then I embrace the offense when it comes.

Tonight, the offense was there. O'Gorman ended up with 18 points.

East Meadow senior Matthew Gundrum was disappointed with the way the contest ended for his team.

"We stopped being aggressive," Gundrum said. "They killed us on the boards, and we need to look for our big guys. Hopefully next time, things will be different."

Coach Block considered his team very fortunate to come away with the win on Monday.

"We are very lucky that their big guy [Gundrum] wasn't shooting well tonight," Block said. "If he did shoot well, things may have been drastically different."

Kennedy's next game is tomorrow when they travel to Freeport for a 6:15 p.m. tip-off.