O'Gorman's Triple-Double Boosts Kennedy to First Playoff Win in 12 Years

The Kennedy Cougars boys basketball team had not won a playoff game in 12 years entering Friday nights first-round matchup against the MacArthur Generals, but all of that quickly changed.

The eighth-seeded Cougars used a big second and third quarter to squeeze past the ninth-seeded MacArthur Generals 51-46.

Brian O'Gorman used his tremendous size to lead the way. The 6-foot-10 center had a career night, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds and a staggering 12 blocked shots for the triple-double.

During the second quarter O'Gorman was a force to be reckoned with, keeping the Generals out of the paint, and blocking all of the shots that MacArthur was able to get off.

“Brian O’Gorman was huge tonight,” said Kennedy head coach Rory Block. “He was altering all of their shots in the paint."

The Cougars pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the opposing team by six points, as MacArthur struggled to catch up. By the end of the third, Kennedy was up 40-28 and it looked as if the fate of the game was sealed, but the Generals wouldn’t go out without a fight. 

MacArthur rallied as Kennedy began to lose steam, and the Cougar’s aggressive defense began to fail against the seamless ball movement by the Generals. After a 12-point run by the Generals, the score was within three points with 42 seconds left on the clock.

After Kennedy fouled on a shot, MacArthur inbounded the ball and was moving it around the court, when one of the players threw it away. Kennedy received the ball and an aggressive MacArthur forced the ball out of bounds on a Cougar, which gave the Generals another shot to tie the game. Although the Generals were on top of the ball movement for most of the night, they could not stay focused and another player threw the ball away for a second time.

But it was Kennedy who was able to walk off with the win. As MacArthur began to feel the game slipping away from them, they became more aggressive and put Kennedy on the line twice in the last 18 seconds of the game.  Senior Mike Teich nailed both of his foul shots to make the score 48-43 Kennedy, and Adrian Rose sealed the win for the Cougars by banking one of his foul shots.

“This win is awesome,” Block said. “I am happy for our guys and I am really proud of them. This is a fantastic feeling. All of our seniors really stepped up. Mike Teich was four-for-four from the line tonight, Will Colon scored 12 points and it was a fantastic night for O’Gorman, definitely."

The Cougars will take on No. 1 Baldwin on Tuesday at 7 p.m., a game that Block said will be a tough one for the team.

“Baldwin is an awesome team, but we will give it our best shot and see what happens,” Block said.

Box Score