BOYS BASKETBALL Kennedy Catholic's 22-2 spurt sinks Mercer by nine

The Eagles improved to 7-1 after their nine-minute, 22-2 run.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SHARON -- During a five-minute spurt in the second period and the first four minutes of the third quarter, Kennedy Catholic (7-1) combined to outscore Mercer by a 22-2 spread.
As for the remaining 23 minutes of the game, Mercer held a 38-27 advantage.
Unfortunately for Mercer (3-6) and fortunately for Kennedy, when you put the two together, it adds up to a 49-40 Golden Eagle victory over the Mustangs in Friday's Mercer County Athletic Conference game.
"I was real happy with our effort, and I thought we played most of the game," said Mercer coach Mike Williams. "We didn't play a whole 32 minutes and they made a couple of runs in there and most of those were not off execution, but off missed shots and things like that.
"They throw it up there and they are able to go and get it. It is rare that anybody out-rebounds us, and tonight, they out-rebounded us, especially in the first half."
Loomis not happy
Although happy with the win, Kennedy coach Tim Loomis certainly wasn't pleased with everything.
"This might be one of our worst performances of the year," said Loomis. "We normally don't give up that many points and we made a lot of bad decisions. We were just awful (on defense) that last quarter, and that is where we have to win most of our games because we aren't a good offensive team.
"I thought we played pretty well defensively in the second and third periods, but down the stretch, we didn't put the hammer down to shut them out."
After leading by as many as 17 midway through the third period, Kennedy found itself only holding an eight-point lead (44-38) with four minutes left in the game.
"We looked very disorganized and made a lot of bad decisions in those last five minutes," said Loomis. "When we were up by 18 points, we were shooting 3s and we weren't moving the ball. A couple of kids stepped up, but when you have freshmen and sophomores stepping up, those aren't the guys who are supposed to step up. But again, it hurts when you don't have your point guard (Roddy Fuller) on the floor."
As for Fuller's absence, Loomis said it was a one-game situation.
"Anybody else would have played him, but this was totally my decision," said Loomis of Fuller's absence. "It wasn't related to basketball or grades. It was a minor thing, but with me, sometimes you have to take action on minor things."
Mercer not patient
Williams felt the Mustangs weren't patient enough on offense.
"We just have to get a lot better at running our offense when we really need a shot," he said. "When they made those runs, they should have only been three or five-point runs. But then we would come down after they made their two baskets, and instead of getting a good shot, we rushed things and tried to get a seven-point play. I have been coaching for 19 years and to my knowledge, they don't have those.
Williams was pleased, however, to see his team fight back from an 18-point deficit.
"I know this sounds sort of hokey there, but those are Mercer kids out there," he said. "We do have a tradition and we aren't going to back off."
Kennedy sophomore David Jackson led all scorers with 20 points, Jackson joined in doubles by point-guard Brandon Mirizio with 11.
For Mercer, Jason Moon was the only Mustang to reach doubles with 14 points.