Empire League : Kennedy Holds On to First Place, 74-72 : Fighting Irish Score Game’s Last Five Points to Defeat El Dorado

Rod Carew, Bob Boone and 1,000 other Empire League basketball fans got their money’s worth Wednesday night at El Dorado High School.

Watching first-place Kennedy fend off second-place El Dorado (5-2, 14-3) is a lot cheaper than a California Angels baseball game, and possibly more exciting, too.

The outcome of Wednesday’s game was not decided until the final 33 seconds.

A free throw by Kennedy’s Jeff Green, a rebound one play later by Darrin Queen, and a short jump shot by substitute Derby Davidson allowed the Fighting Irish (7-0, 14-3) to make up a five-point deficit and hold onto first place with a 74-72 victory.

Carew and Boone were in attendance to see Boone’s son, Bret, play for the El Dorado junior varsity. But sticking around to check out the varsity action proved to be a smart decision.

To start this so-called “uptempo” game off right, there really should have been someone saying, “On your marks . . . get set . . . go!” The fast break was in full bloom and nobody quit running until El Dorado spread its offense with three minutes left and a 72-69 advantage.

Neither team ever pulled ahead by more than three baskets as both played unceasingly intense defense. El Dorado’s Jim Sammon and Kennedy’s Mike Faddoul were particularly noteworthy.

In addition, El Dorado, whose tallest starter is 6-foot 2-inches, made a concerted rebounding effort, enabling it to stay in the game. The Golden Hawks wound up with just three fewer rebounds (31) than Kennedy, which can claim two of the county’s leading rebounders in Green and Walt Lauderdale.

Of course, it turned out that the Golden Hawks needed every rebound they could get. Normally one of the league’s most accurate shooting teams, El Dorado’s shooting blues carried over from Friday’s upset loss by Los Alamitos. Kennedy outshot the Hawks by a shocking 60% (17 of 28) to 27% (11 of 41) in the first half to take a 43-37 lead.

“We got a lot of preseason notoriety. All teams go through little slumps, and we’re in one,” Golden Hawk Coach Terry Conley said of the shooting. “We shot so well at the beginning of the year, and now we’ve got to adjust. I think we will come out of it.”

But Kennedy had problems of its own that prevented it from running away with the lead through most of the first three quarters.

Two of its best all-around players, Lauderdale and Queen, spent half the game on the bench after picking up three early fouls.

And the Hawks’ nicely executed full-court press helped to foster many wild Kennedy passes. The Fighting Irish committed nearly twice as many turnovers (17) as the Hawks, who had just 9.

Green, however, played a brilliant game with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the task of tying the game fell to him at the end.

With the Golden Hawks leading, 72-69, and two minutes on the clock, Lauderdale missed two free throws. Queen missed another. The Hawks were playing keep-away from the desperate Kennedy team, but El Dorado’s Jim Mansfield missed a layup, Green took the rebound, and Faddoul scored on a fast break.

El Dorado was up by one point, 72-71, when Green intercepted a pass, was fouled, and made one of two free throws to tie the game. Then Sammon was fouled and missed, allowing Queen to rebound the ball, and Davidson to make a short jumper for the victory.