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Newest Eagle Burney boosts JFK past YCS
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown Christian was short-handed from the opening tip Saturday night, but with the way Warren JFK has been playing of late, it may not have mattered.
The JFK Eagles are winners of four straight and followed up a comeback win over Holy Name Friday night with a 59-31 victory at Youngstown Christian Saturday.
“When we were down at the beginning of the year we kept telling the guys, keep believing, keep believing — which is hard to sell when you’re losing — but they did and I couldn’t be more proud of our team,” JFK coach Shawn Pompelia said. “We’re playing really solid basketball right now.”
The Eagles got 12 points on four 3-pointers off the bench from Luke Keck, to go along with 12 points and six rebounds from 6-foot-7 big man Zachery Usher.
However both of those performances were overshadowed by a new face in a Kennedy uniform.
James Burney was in just his fourth game as a member of the Eagles, but his play on the court said otherwise. After recently moving to the area for family reasons, Burney has quickly turned into “the heartbeat of our team,” according to his coach.
“He’s an outstanding young man that we’re proud to have in our program,” Pompelia said. “When he’s playing hard it sends a message to the other guys on the floor and he gives us something that we’ve just never had. His athleticism is second to none.”
On Saturday, Burney turned in 13 points, three rebounds, three blocks, and two assists, adding a little bit of everything to his new team.
“Being able to get my teammates involved is important to me and I base a lot of my stats off my teammates because I feed off them,” Burney said. “That’s where I get a lot of my energy from.”
Youngstown Christian fell behind early as Keck knocked down two of his four baskets from behind the arc in the first quarter. Then, in the second, Usher got going with six points as JFK took a 30-11 lead into the half.
“It’s no excuse because we’ve been short-handed all season, but I’ve been playing five guys for the last five games,” said YCS coach Dolph Carroll. “They’ve got no legs. I mean we had shots all night, we just didn’t hit any.”
The YCS Eagles did a nice job attacking the boards and getting second-chance points early in the game, but JFK’s depth and defensive pressure began to flex its muscles.
Pompelia credits a solid man-to-man effort on that end of the floor.
“They’re a very unselfish group and they want to work hard and not let their teammate down,” Pompelia said. “When you put that into a team effort, it’s a pretty solid performance. “
YCS only lost the rebound battle 24-23, but Carroll’s team had no answer for JFK’s ability to go from defense to offense and knock down transition 3-pointers.
“We played a zone for the first time [Saturday] and we don’t do that,” he said. “What kills you is if you worry about [JFK’s bigs], they got kids who can spot up and shoot.”
The JFK Eagles hit eight 3-pointers to YCS’s three — all occurring late in the fourth quarter.
Darien Townsend and Malik Dubose were two of the critical pieces missing Saturday night from a team that advanced to last season’s regional final.
Carroll’s hoping he can get a couple more pieces to that puzzle back before this year’s tournament.
“We got two weeks left,” he said. “I get everybody healthy, we’ll be alright. I mean, who knows.”
As for JFK, they’ve got new life with the addition of Burney — who’s enjoying life as an Eagle.
“It really is a good feeling because it’s just basketball and that’s my passion,” Burney said. “Being with such a great team — that’s just icing on the cake.”