Eagles show guts in 71-51 victory over Howland

Minus an injured starter, Marc Rossi had 19 points to lead Warren JFK.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
HOWLAND -- Basketball coaches extol the virtues of team play so often that it is listed right behind "playing them one game at a time" in the Coachspeak book of favorite cliches.
In the case of coach Shawn Pompelia and the John F. Kennedy High Eagles, team play has been the difference between a 17-3 record and what could have been a disappointing season.
"Coach [Allen] Ryan said before the season started that we could go 5-15 or 15-5," Pompelia said about the JFK coaching staff's discussions back in November. "The big question for us was whether or not these kids were willing to sacrifice their egos for the good of the team."
The success JFK has had, including a 71-51 victory over Howland on Friday night to close out the regular season, bears that out.
Walker out
Playing without injured starter TaShawn Walker (broken hand), the Eagles got 19 points from Marc Rossi, 18 from Stephan Flannigan, 14 from Desmar Jackson, eight from Mario Chicclillo and seven from J.J. Townsend.
But the real mind-boggling statistic is 20 assists for the Eagles on 26 field goals. Good passes usually set up easy baskets and that told in JFK's 26-of-43 (60 percent) shooting performance.
Guards Townsend and Jackson led the passing attack with eight and seven assists, respectively.
Jackson added seven rebounds, six steals and five blocked shots and Townsend grabbed five rebounds as JFK held its own (25-23) on the boards against the taller Tigers.
"Howland goes 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-7 inside and our tallest player is 6-foot-3 and he plays point guard," Pompelia said, referring to Howland's Greg Hawes and Dario Hadzovic, along with his point guard, Townsend. "This was our first game with Walker out and we were concerned with how we would match up with a much taller, Division I team. Our performance tonight shows the guts of our team."
Hawes was outstanding for the Tigers (11-9) with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Hadzovic was held to nine points, a figure matched by Nathan Cope.
Flannigan scored the last basket of the first quarter, off a feed from Jackson, giving JFK a 12-10 lead which the Eagles never lost.
Key stretch
The key stretch in the game came in the third quarter when Kennedy increased its 27-22 halftime lead to 42-26 with a 15-4 run. Howland shot 1-for-6 from the field during that stretch as JFK switched to a 2-3 zone defense.
"Coach Ryan always tells the kids at halftime that the first three minutes of the third quarter are the most important," Pompelia said. "We switched out of our man-to-man and 1-3-1 into a 2-3 zone and I thought that sort of paralyzed them offensively."
It is clear the Eagles have several players who easily could be big scorers if they played selfishly. Jackson, Townsend and Flannigan, in particular, have the ability to score off the dribble, but more often than not prefer to penetrate and pass.
Jackson, just a freshman, has the ability to make a huge impact in a game in a very short period of time with his quick hands on defense, his court awareness, athleticism and willingness to find the open man.
"These kids set their egos aside for the benefit of the team and that's why we've won 17 games."