DIVISION III-A ROUNDUP : Kenney’s Connections Lift Servite

Matt Kenney took the long distance route Tuesday night, hitting six of seven three-point attempts, as Servite easily defeated Pacifica, 75-58, in the second round of the Southern Section Division III-A basketball playoffs.

The victory moved the Friars (20-6), the defending state Division III champions, into a quarterfinal game against St. Bernard Friday.

Kenney, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, also made four free throws to finish with 22 points. Four of his three-pointers came in the third quarter, when Servite outscored the Mariners, 27-18.

“We run a lot of things to get him (Kenney) the chance to shoot the ball,” Servite Coach Richard Smith said. “You could tell he was hot by the way he wanted the ball.”

The Friars, however, weren’t even lukewarm in the opening quarter and, for a brief few minutes, Pacifica (16-8) seemed like the little team that could.

The Mariners got balanced scoring and jumped to a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, when Servite could only connect on one field goal--a three-pointer by Kenney.

“I didn’t know if we were awake for the first quarter,” Smith said.

Servite heard the bugle call loud and clear in the second quarter, outscoring Pacifica, 22-11, to take a 31-26 lead at the half. Junior forward Adam Anderson had seven of his 15 points in the quarter and junior guard Eddie Rubio had six of his 15.

After that, it was pretty much a maintenance job. The Friars just worked on keeping the lead with a four-corner offense that frequently gave them easy layups when Pacifica’s defense was caught napping.

Senior center Dan Coady (6 feet 6) scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, six on layups and one on a thundering dunk after a steal.