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JFK rallies to get past Howland

Tribune Chronicle / Eric Murray Howland’s Connor Tamarkin shoots free throws as teammate Mike Massucci and JFK’s Antonio McQueen, center, wait for Tamarkin to shoot, along with JFK’s B.J. Williams.

Tribune Chronicle / Eric Murray Kennedy's Antonio McQueen goes high off the glass for two in Tuesday's game against Howland.WARREN — The John F. Kennedy Eagles used a 10-0 fourth quarter run to take control of the game and ultimately grab a win over Howland in Tuesday night’s 71-67 boys basketball matchup in a packed Gillen Gymnasium. The Eagles overcame an eight-point halftime deficit in the win.

“I just told the guys that we kinda owe the second-half to two guys, and that’s Alec Burzynski and Evan Boyd,” Kennedy coach Mark Komlanc said. “Honestly, they (Boyd and Burzynski) bring a new element to us. Both of those guys are just winners and they don’t care about stats, they don’t care about anything else. They just want to go out and help the team win and that’s what they did. I really feel like the second half, we owe it to them and nothing else. There’s really no adjustments, other than I was smart enough to put those two in.”

Kennedy and Howland were deadlocked to start the fourth quarter, after a strong third quarter showing put the Eagles back in the game. Connor Tamarkin had a layup off glass, while Mike Massucci hit a pair of free throws to put Howland up by four.

Antonio McQueen helped the Eagles respond with a basket-and-1, after the ball stayed on the cylinder and finally rolled off after about 3 seconds. Howland ultimately went back ahead by three, 56-53, with 4:54 to play.

However, Kennedy went on its second big run of the second-half, as it went on a 10-0 spurt over the next 2:18. Burzynski’s steal and bounce pass went to Nate Woods for a lay-in off the glass, while Burzynski followed that up with another steal, leading to a basket-and-1.

Justin Bofenkamp and Byron Taylor capped-off the run with buckets to put Kennedy ahead, 63-56. Howland cut it to 63-60, but Burzynski nailed a corner 3 with 1:39 to play. McQueen had an alley oop dunk-and-1 to put the Eagles back up by six, following a pair of Howland buckets, to make it 70-64.

Massucci hit an off-balance 3 with 10.8 seconds to play, to cut it back to three points. However, Nate Woods was fouled with 8.5 to play and hit his second free throw attempt to seal the win.

“It’s like a broken record for the last I don’t how many games,” Howland coach Dan Bubon said. “The strategy on us is to get up on Tamarkin, and just get your hands on him, push him, ride him and wear him out. That takes us out of our offense a lot. I thought (Burzynski) probably fouled 30 times.

“I don’t know how many fouls he ended up having, but it just wore (Connor) out. When the handchecking is allowed, that’s great for the more physical team and we’re just not that physical.”

Howland took a quick 13-4 lead out of the gate, before the Eagles went on a 7-0 run, thanks to Bofenkamp, who scored 17 of his 30 points in the first-half. Ahead 17-13 to start the second quarter, Howland responded with a 6-0 run, as Tamarkin had back-to-back buckets.

The Tigers went ahead by 12, 32-20, with 2:39 to play, but the Eagles managed to go on another 7-0 run. A late Tiger basket, however, put Howland ahead by eight at the half.

Kennedy then went on its first of two big runs in the second-half, as it started the third quarter on a 12-0 run. Burzynski hit a triple, while Taylor went coast to coast for a bucket-and-1.

Howland responded with a 3 from Massucci and a lay-in from Nate Leventis, before Leventis tied it at 46 with a one-handed lay-up off the glass. However, it was not enough for the Tigers, who drop to 7-14 and will finish its season against Lakeside on Friday, before hosting Akron Springfield for a sectional tournament game next Wednesday.

“Lakeside is very similar to (Kennedy), they have a lot more length than us, they got athletic guards who will get up and guard us. So, this prepared us for that game,” Bubon said. “Springfield’s a totally different team. Springfield is an excellent matchup for us. We’re the quicker team, they have a little bit more size than us, but not much. I’m feeling really good about our tournament game, but I’d like to get the regular season win going into the tournament.”

As for the Eagles (13-7), they travel to Trinity on Friday and will finish their regular season at home on Saturday against Villa Angela-St. Joseph. Komlanc believes that first-half discipline on defense would have allowed his team to potentially beat the Tigers by double-digits in Tuesday’s game.

Komlanc further explained that his team’s trap and press defense alone won’t carry his team the rest of the way, as teams tend to figure out how to handle that type of defense at this point in the season.

“You gotta be really disciplined on how you trap and we were just really undisciplined in our traps, and it’s easy to pick apart,” Komlanc said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to preach for the last two weeks. But, they’re getting better, they see the light and the positive is that (Howland’s) a team they lost to last year. We overcame adversity and we also did it in a setting that’s gonna be a tournament atmosphere. That was great, that was the most I sweated all year.”

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