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DePaul's upstart run in the Passaic County boys' basketball tournament came to an end at the hands of Paterson's Kennedy High School. An aggressive and impressively swift Kennedy squad took charge of the contest in the second quarter and never let the Spartans get close again. While DePaul kept the game closer than the first time it played Kennedy, the sixth seeded Spartans could not upset the second seeded Knights. |
From the start Kennedy played the full court press to create turnovers. Their aggressiveness and quickness on defense started to create trouble for DePaul. The Knights went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-13 at the end of the first period.
DePaul was unable to match Kennedy’s intensity and the Knights continued to extend the lead. Kennedy continued to frustrate DePaul with tough defense that lead to fast-break layups. DePaul entered the second half facing a 44-26 deficit.
The Spartans did make adjustments and they looked promising. They were able to break through the full court press much better to start the third period. They even had a mini 8-2 run to cut into the lead, trying to steal the momentum from Kennedy. Unfortunately for the Spartans, Kennedy would answer with runs of their own, regaining control of the basketball contest.
The Spartans had one last chance to cut the lead under ten with 1:50 to go in the game, but Kennedy didn’t allow DePaul to get any closer and free throws iced the game.
DePaul, now at 16-7, will look to regroup and finish out the season playing their remaining three regular-season basketball games this week. “We're hoping for a 20-win season. We'll try to win the three games this week and then we have Bergen Catholic in the first round of the states,” said coach Bart Fazio. -- Emir Liguori for Jersey Sports Now
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