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JFK pulls out close win over Chalker

WARREN — Antonella LaMonica’s team-high 23 points helped lift John F. Kennedy’s girls basketball team over Chalker, 65-57, in an emotional back-and- forth game Wednesday night.

“She’s a gamer,” Kennedy coach John Condoleon said about LaMonica. “When her back’s against the wall, she always comes up with some way to win a game for us. She’s been doing that for four years now.”

Multiple problems at the scorers table helped raise tempers in Gillen Gymnasium.

“We went from leading, to trailing at one point due to scoreboard issues,” an upset Chalker coach Matt Yoder said. “Its not a very settling thing to lose in that manner.”

The first issue occurred shortly after the start of the fourth quarter. Chalker had a 46-43 lead heading into the final quarter, but after a JFK basket the scorers table called a halt to the game. The Wildcats were at that point deducted two points and went from leading by one to trailing, 45-44.

With Kennedy ahead 49-47 after a timeout, Caitlyn Condoleon came up with a steal in the open court for an easy fast break layup to put the Eagles up four with just under six minutes to play.

The Wildcats Shae Keeley tied the game at 54-54 with 2:12 to play. The Eagles answered with back-to-back layups by LaMonica and Condoleon to put JFK back on top, 58-54.

Chalker’s Courtney Warnick rushed down the court for a tough layup through contact for a bucket and a foul. She missed the free throw but finished the night with a game-high 24 points.

After the shot, a second mistake was identified at the scorers table and Kennedy was awarded two additional points, putting them ahead 60-56 with a little over a minute to go.

“Being down two compared to down four in that situation is completely different. You’re going to foul different, and it raises the pressure on the kids,” Yoder said.

The Eagles went on to knock down five free throws in the final minute to secure the win.

“We made good decisions with the ball at the end, we got fouled and stepped up to hit our foul shots,” coach Condoleon said.

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