Kennedy Misses First Step, Falls to Manual Arts, 55-48

Winning a playoff game means different things to different people.

After Manual Arts beat Kennedy High, 55-48, Friday night in the first round of the City 4-A playoffs, winning Coach Reggie Morris offered his opinion.

“I think it’s probably the kiss of death,” he said.

Morris’ Toilers (15-6) now have the unenviable chore of facing Crenshaw, the two-time defending City champion, which has traditionally turned the playoffs into its own private showcase.

Morris and his players could be in a worse position, though. They could be in Kennedy’s shoes.

The Golden Cougars (14-7) entered the playoffs as the hottest team in the Valley 4-A League and had a five-game win streak.

After beating league powerhouse Cleveland in the regular-season finale, Kennedy guard Marcus Malone said, “I don’t think we’ll lose any more games.”

Moments after the loss to Manual Arts, he stood in the key, where he missed a tip-in with 10 seconds left that would have tied the game at 50. Malone tried to figure out what went wrong.

“We weren’t looking ahead to Crenshaw,” he said. “We were looking all the way to the Sports Arena for the championship. I think we just forgot what we had to do to get there.”

Malone’s missed tip came during a scramble after Marcus Jones missed a 13-foot jumper.

Manual Arts was five of six from the free-throw line in the final nine seconds.

The Toilers led, 50-41, with two minutes left, but the Golden Cougars went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to two points with 36 seconds left. Forward Andrew Como had a chance to trim it to one, but he missed a free throw after he was fouled on a nine-foot jumper.