It was going in. It just had to.
That’s the way everyone in uniform and on the bench for Kennedy felt as the ball left Deaisia Acklin’s hands behind the arc from the left side, the buzzer seconds from sounding.
“I thought that ball was in,” Knights coach O’Neil Glenn said. “I lined it up. I said, ‘She’s got it.’”
Instead, the potential game-tying shot hit the inside of the rim and bounced long. It came a possession after Kennedy had a chance to go ahead but Dmitria Abbott’s layup rolled around the rim and out. The two misses handed the host Knights a tough 69-66 defeat to Long Island Lutheran at the PSAL/John F. Kennedy Challenge girls basketball event Saturday.
“One of those has to drop,” Acklin said.
Joya McFarland poured in a game-high 26 points on six 3-pointers to keep Kennedy (14-7) in the game early on. Leshauna Phinazee scored 12 points, Shaquaya Daniels had eight and Abbott six. Lauren (Boogie) Brozoski led LuHi (10-4) with 16 points, Paige Kriftcher had 14 and Sam Milhaven added 13, including three 3-pointers.
“She is making a believer out of me and everybody else,” Glenn said of McFarland. “That’s a good showing.”
The lack of a homecourt bounce spoiled a spirited Kennedy comeback. It trailed 45-32 early in the third quarter. After that the Knights picked up their defensive intensity, sped the Crusaders up and forced turnovers. Kennedy ended the frame on an 11-2 run, including consecutive transition layups by Daniels to trim the LuHi lead to 51-47 heading into the fourth.
“When [Glenn] called the first timeout after the half he was like, ‘Turn it up,’” Acklin said.
Long Island Lutheran appeared in control after Christina Raiti answered McFarland’s trey with one of her own to make it 65-56 with 2:25 left in the game. Lutheran would give JFK a chance to get back in it by missing back-to-back front ends. Abbott connected on a 3-pointer from the left side and then the corner trimming the advantage to just one with 44 seconds left.
Two Kriftcher free throws, after Abbott’s missed layup, extended it to 69-66 with 6.3 remaining. After a foul, Kennedy inbounded the ball in front of its bench with three ticks left. Abbott and McFarland were well covered and Acklin got an open look.
“It’s very disappointing,” McFarland said. “We felt like we had that win from the very beginning.”
While Glenn felt his team could have been better defensively – 41 points given up in the first half – but believed his team took steps forward. The Knights could take a giant leap as rival and 12-time defending PSAL champions Murry Bergtraum visits The Bronx Tuesday.
“We are getting there,” Glenn said. “We have a lot for work to do. We have two months left to get better.”