Old school: Gators avenge earlier loss with 75-55 victory
Jim Downey | 蘑菇视频
The Gators鈥� Jaydis Kennedy (3) banks in a layup despite the defense of Monessen蘑菇视频 Tyvaughn Kershaw in the second quarter of Friday蘑菇视频 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
Jim Downey | 蘑菇视频
Monessen蘑菇视频 Lorenzo Gardner scores on a layup in the third quarter of Friday蘑菇视频 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
Jim Downey | 蘑菇视频
Monessen蘑菇视频 Lorenzo Gardner (2) shoots over the outstretched hand of the Gators鈥� Jaydis Kennedy (4) in the third quarter of Friday蘑菇视频 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
JIm Downey | 蘑菇视频
The Gators鈥� Tre White (4) puts up an off-balance shot after Monessen蘑菇视频 Timothy Kershaw (1) disrupted the attempt in the first quarter of Friday蘑菇视频 Section 2-A game at Geibel Catholic.
CONNELLSVILLE TWP. 鈥� The Monessen-Geibel Catholic boys game Friday night had a retro feel as the two teams met in a key Section 2-A game.
A raucously, near-capacity crowd, a physical game on the floor, chatter between players that led to a few technical fouls, and playing for a shot at the section title lent itself to a classic rivalry game from back in the day.
The Gators rode Jaydis Kennedy蘑菇视频 44 points for a 75-55 victory against the visiting Greyhounds.
Both teams stand at 5-1 in the section with four games remaining. The Gators avenged a 63-44 loss at Monessen, the last game they lost with their winning streak extended to nine games.
Geibel improves to 11-6 overall, while Monessen goes to 15-2 as it saw its winning streak halted at 15.
鈥淭his was the first of five chapters we have left,鈥� said Geibel Catholic coach Don Porter. 鈥淚 told them to look up at the wall at the section titles banner. It蘑菇视频 been since 2005. It蘑菇视频 been awhile.鈥�
Porter said the schedule was set up for a highly-intense game.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e done is layers building to get ready for this game,鈥� said Porter. 鈥淲e pressure the ball and get the ball up the floor.
鈥淚 tell the team what we do is high risk, but it has high reward. If we play it right, we play it big.鈥�
Porter added, 鈥淢onessen is a real good ball club. The kids were keyed in tonight. Jeff Johnson and Tre White were sick coming into the game. I wasn鈥檛 sure they鈥檇 be able to play.鈥�
Johnson finished with 12 points.
The Gators were leading 9-4 with around 3陆 minutes to go in the first quarter when the emotion in the gym led to an altercation under Geibel蘑菇视频 basket as Kennedy drove to the rim.
The referees needed several minutes to separate the teams and sort out the details, which led to technicals being called on both players.
The Monessen bench was not pleased with the call, leading to a bench technical. Kennedy converted both for an 11-4 lead.
A technical was call late in the quarter on another Monessen player for chirping after a foul call on a Geibel player. When the dust cleared, Geibel held a 19-15 lead after the first quarter.
All the action in the first eight minutes fired up both fan bases, leading to a heightened level of crowd control by those in charge of the home game.
鈥淚 thought the game was out of control from the jump,鈥� said Monessen coach Dan Bosnic. 鈥淚t was chaotic from the very start of the game.鈥�
Geibel蘑菇视频 tall backline of Kennedy, Tre White and Tommy Kolencik had several blocked shots in the first half and altered a number of other attempts.
That same trio did not allow the Greyhounds, notably Lorenzo Gardner, many second-chance points. Gardner was the lone Greyhound in double figures with 29 points.
The Greyhounds bounced around from a four- or five-point deficit late in the first half, but it was Kennedy who scored the momentum-changing points and not the visitors.
Kennedy scored five points in the final 20 seconds, the last three coming on an old school 3-point play after Bradon Curry stole an inbounds pass (after a Kennedy field goal).
Curry saved the ball back to Michael Miller. Miller蘑菇视频 shot didn鈥檛 fall, but Kennedy was at the right place at the right time for the putback and foul. Geibel led 39-27 at halftime.
Kennedy scored 22 points in the first half. Curry finished the game with 10 points.
鈥淜ennedy was our focus. (Geibel) outplayed us. We didn鈥檛 match the intensity from the start,鈥� said Bosnic. 鈥淚 thought Geibel did a good job.
鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 get over that hump. We needed to get a couple more plays to swing the game. (Kennedy蘑菇视频 play) was a huge swing in the game.鈥�
Both teams scored 15 points in the third quarter, and Geibel held a 21-13 advantage in the fourth quarter.