Empire League : Kennedy Presses Right Buttons, Wins : Irish’s Full-Court Defense Knocks Out Cypress in Third Quarter

Kennedy High School outscored Cypress, 24-12, in the third quarter Wednesday night on its way to a 73-63 victory over the Centurions in an Empire League boys’ basketball game played at Cypress High.

Kennedy’s full-court press, which hadn’t bothered Cypress (1-2 in the league, 4-8 overall) much in the first half, finally began to work in the third quarter.

Danny Davidson, who scored 15 points, had four steals in the third quarter, three of which led to Mike Keith baskets.

Keith finished with 18 points for Kennedy (3-0, 9-4). Greg Bedford led Cypress with 21 points, and Matt Civitelli added 18.

In other games:

Los Alamitos 63, Esperanza 38--The Griffins outscored the Aztecs, 43-25, in the second half on their way to a victory at Esperanza High.

Mo Warner scored 16 points, including six in the third quarter, and Ryan Blossey added 14 points for Los Alamitos, which improved to 3-0 in league.

Ross Harvey scored 14 points for Esperanza.

The Aztecs made only 12 of 26 free throws and dropped to 1-2 in league.

Katella 63, El Dorado 55--Richard Lucas scored 20 points for the Knights (3-0, 12-2) in a game played at Katella. Brian Cardenas led the scoring for the Golden Hawks (0-3 in league).

Pacifica 63, Loara 52--After a 29-29 halftime tie, Pacifica took control in the third quarter and outscored Loara, 16-8, at Loara. Dustin Bonham led Pacifica with 22 points. Rich Hagerman led Loara (2-8) with 12 points.