Kennedy’s dwelling crowd went wild after senior Cahri Coleman made three consecutive 3-pointers within the remaining minutes of the primary half towards Shaw.
No. 6-seeded Kennedy was dealing with No. 11-seeded Shaw in a boys Division II choose second-round playoff matchup and took the lead after Coleman’s first of three straight 3-pointers. The Cougars stayed out entrance till Shaw tied the sport with lower than two minutes to go within the fourth quarter.
Kennedy received the lead again after senior Kernell Brown made a pair of free throws and led the remainder of the way in which in a 55-49 win on Tuesday, advancing to the quarterfinals.
“Our guys had a good week of preparation to get to this point and executed the way that we needed them to,” Kennedy coach Anthony Boyd mentioned. “We were pleased with the defensive effort we gave tonight. (Cahri Coleman) shot lights out.”
Boyd served as Kennedy’s head coach on Tuesday with its normal boys basketball coach Wilfred Antoine lacking the second-round matchup. Boyd mentioned that Antoine was out resulting from a private matter.
Shaw took a 6-0 result in begin the sport after a pair of 3-pointers from senior Jackson Williams and sophomore Christian Clair, however Kennedy’s 11-0 run to shut out the second quarter swung the momentum.
Coleman completed with a game-high 21 factors, taking pictures 7 of 8 from the sector with seven 3-pointers. He’s in his first season at Kennedy after transferring from the now-closed ML King.
“Once I saw one (3-pointer) go in, I just knew it was going to be another,” Coleman mentioned. “I saw the crowd hyped, and I said, ‘I’m going to shoot another one.’ I like it (at Kennedy). We play big competition.”
Kennedy senior level guard Malik Lonzo had a team-high six assists, a number of of which led to Coleman scoring. He scored 11 factors and made 3 of 4 free throws with lower than a minute within the recreation.
Senior ahead Joseph Bernardez was Kennedy’s second-leading scorer with 14 factors. He additionally pulled down seven rebounds to go along with three steals and a blocked shot.
Kennedy’s 5 senior starters scored all 55 factors. Elijah Carter had seven factors and 6 rebounds, and Brown completed with two factors and 5 rebounds.
Clair completed with a team-high 17 factors for Shaw, which included three 3-pointers. Junior Triston Naquin had 10 factors, eight rebounds and two blocks, and the LSU soccer signee Williams scored 9 factors with eight rebounds.
“(Kennedy) did a great job of executing their game plan,” Shaw coach Mithcell Johnson mentioned. “We were just trying to find a way to claw back in the game and couldn’t make the shot that we needed to make.”
Kennedy (23-8) was on a 16-game successful streak previous to a loss to St. Augustine in its final common season recreation. The Cougars will probably be on the highway for Friday’s quarterfinal matchup towards No. 3-seeded Washington-Marion (19-8).
“We’re just trying to get better each day,” Boyd mentioned. “We’ve just got to be able to defend and make shots when it counts. We’re confident in our guys. We trust them.”
Shaw (24-10) sees its season finish within the second spherical in Johnson’s first yr as coach. The Eagles will return Clair, Naquin and Allen Shaw III, who missed the season’s remaining weeks with an harm.