Sports

Kennedy guts out opener against Truman

O’Neil Glenn doesn’t care if he has the worst offensive team in the city. The John F. Kennedy girls basketball coach prides himself on defense. Stopping opposing teams has been a staple of the Knights in the decade he has been coach.

So when Kennedy left Truman senior guard Unique Williams open to hit three fourth-quarter 3-pointers, Glenn was less than pleased.

“I don’t understand that,” he said. “It’s embarrassing.”

Kennedy would hold on for a 47-44 win at Truman in both teams’ PSAL Bronx AA opener Monday night, but things certainly got interesting late.

The Knights (1-0, 1-0 Bronx ‘AA’), who were points away from the PSAL city title game last year, had a 35-25 lead early in the fourth quarter that quickly evaporated. The Mustangs (4-2, 0-1) went on a 13-3 run, capped by two free throws by senior Nijee Scott, to cut the deficit to 43-40 with 2:44 left. Williams got it to 47-44 with 22 seconds left on her third 3-pointer of the quarter and fourth of the game, but Scott missed what would have been the game-tying 3 with five seconds to go.

“She’s really become the leader and star of the team,” Truman coach John Burke said of Williams. … “We were dead and buried there at one stage.”

While Burke was encouraged by his team’s comeback, Glenn was unhappy with virtually every aspect of Kennedy’s victory – the missed layups, the, at times, porous defense and the bricked free throws.

“This was horrible,” he said.

The only girl returning for the Knights who played significant minutes last year is senior Jazzarae Campbell, who had 11 points against Truman. Glenn started two sophomores – Leshauna Phinazee and Deaisia Acklin – and benched four players, including two would-be starters (Isis Alonso and Chelsea Custodio), because they missed practice Saturday and Sunday.

“Hopefully they get the point now,” he said.

Sophomore Sarah Vann, a transfer from Alabama, and senior guard Sara Hunt each had eight points for Kennedy. Senior forward Nijah Townsend had 16 points, Williams had 14 points and Scott added nine for Truman.

Glenn said getting the players to buy into his defensive mindset might take longer than he thought. They aren’t “even close,” he said, right now. Phinazee understands the philosophy and thinks her team will only improve.

“Our defense is the key,” the athletic 10th grader said. “If we’re gonna miss layups, at least we can play good defense.”

The fiery Glenn wasn’t going to let his players get off that easy. When asked if he saw any positives Monday, he had a curt reply.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s only the first game.”

mraimondi@nypost.com