Kennedy snaps losing skid

With three straight losses to start the Conference AA-III girls’ basketball campaign, Kennedy couldn’t afford to dig a deeper hole and played with a sense of urgency last Friday at Long Beach.

Led by Allie Keller and Morgan Kitton, the Lady Cougars shot the lights out in the first quarter to build a 13-point cushion and never looked back in a convincing 58-24 victory. Keller had a game-high 20 points and six rebounds and Kitton added 12 points and 14 rebounds. Eight Lady Marines scored, but none had more than five points.

“We’ve been looking for a breakout game,” Kennedy coach Debbie Cipolla-Minafo said. “We had a tough start to the conference season and this is a big one for our confidence. I thought we played well in all areas.”

Keller sank her first of eight field goals—a three-pointer—on the opening possession to set the tone for Kennedy (1-3 in Conference AA-III, 3-4 overall), which scored the game’s first eight points and never trailed. She had eight points in a 19-6 opening quarter that marked only the second time in seven games the Lady Cougars led after eight minutes.

“They came out on fire and we couldn’t keep up,” said Long Beach coach Lori DeVivio, whose team slipped to 2-2 in conference games and 2-5 overall. “This game doesn’t change our outlook,” she added. “We’re still in the thick of things and hoping to get a playoff spot.”

Kennedy led 28-11 at halftime and picked up where it left off in the second half. Keller’s day was over after she added seven third-quarter points to increase the lead to 27. In the fourth, Melissa Colluchio, Victoria Ferry, and Samantha Finkel all hit baskets. Carly Thea finished with nine points and six assists, and Kerri Baum chipped in six points.

“I’m hoping we can look back at this game as the pivotal point in our season,” Cipolla-Minafo said. “We lost a few that could’ve gone either way, so hopefully this gets us moving in the direction we want to go.

“We shot at a much higher percentage today and we stayed out of foul trouble.”

After winning two of three non-league games, beating Lawrence and Island Trees after a season-opening defeat to Massapequa, the Lady Cougars dropped the conference opener Dec. 18 to Elmont, 48-35, due to a poor first half that resulted in only 12 points. Thea, with 10 points, was Kennedy’s lone double-digit scorer.

A hard-fought 59-46 defeat to Mepham followed three days later, with the Lady Pirates using a 24-point third-quarter outburst to erase a three-point halftime deficit. Keller had 11 points and Colluchio 10.

After a two-week break, Kennedy was back in action Jan. 4 and fell short at Valley Stream Central, 57-43. Keller hit for a season-high 23 points, and Heather Hulkower added 16.

Next up for the Lady Cougars is a trip to Great Neck South on Friday at 7:15 p.m.