Prep Basketball Playoffs / THIRD ROUND : Kennedy Gets Kunz in Step to Advance : DIVISION II-A

Kennedy Coach John Mayberry gave Patrick Kunz a 50-50 chance of playing on the sore ankle he injured Tuesday night. If Kunz played, Mayberry said he was only expecting 75% productivity from his senior forward.

Good thing Mayberry doesn’t get paid to make predictions.

Kunz defied the odds, scoring 24 points and grabbing 13 rebounds to lead Kennedy to a 61-56 victory over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa Friday night at South Torrance High.

The victory moves Kennedy (26-3) into Tuesday’s Division II-A Southern Section semifinals, where it will meet top-seeded Artesia. The Fighting Irish have won 25 consecutive games and are a victory away from returning to the finals.

Kennedy wouldn’t be making any plans if not for Kunz, who sprained his ankle in the second quarter Tuesday against Pomona Garey. Kunz continued to play on it and woke up Thursday to find it had swelled considerably.

He didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday, but received treatment on his ankle from a trainer at Cal State Long Beach.

By Friday, he was ready.

“I told myself, ‘Play as long as you can because it could be your last game in high school,’ ” Kunz said.

Kunz showed everyone early that the ankle was fine. He scored half of Kennedy’s 16 first-quarter points and grabbed four rebounds.

“I wanted to go out there and lead by example,” Kunz said. “I figured if my teammates saw me going out there, hustling and diving for loose balls with a bad ankle, that it would give them a lift.”

It appeared to as Kennedy built a 33-22 halftime lead. But as they have nearly all season, the Irish began to unravel in the third quarter. Mira Costa junior Shane Willis scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in the third quarter as the Mustangs made it 45-40 after three quarters.

The momentum continued to swing Mira Costa’s way in the fourth quarter and when Frank Zeno hit a four-foot leaner on the baseline, the game was tied at 48 with 5:15 remaining.

Mira Costa (20-8) had a chance to take its first lead but Zeno missed a free throw, then Willis missed the front end of a one-and-one situation. Kunz’s layup gave Kennedy a lead, 50-48, that it never relinquished.

Willis misfired on another one-and-one situation and hit one of two on another trip to the line before Jeff Cummins nailed an 18-footer and was fouled with 2:28 left. He made the free throw and Kennedy was up, 53-49.

Kunz then hit a layup off a nice feed from Cummins and he hit four consecutive free throws to ice the game.

“I just kept going back inside to Pat,” said Cummins, who had 17 points and eight rebounds. “He was tough to stop.”

Said Mayberry: “He’s just strong as hell. He’s a gutty player.”

Mayberry also got a big contribution off the bench from junior Wesley Morris, who grabbed two key rebounds and made a steal down the stretch.

Willis, who scored most of his points on quick, slashing drives to the basket, scored only six points in the fourth quarter, three on a meaningless three-pointer in the last minute.