It was an emotional night at Kennedy on Monday. The gym was packed with students from both Calhoun and Kennedy, as the district rivals faced off in the regular season finale.

It also happened to be Senior Night, as nine graduating Cougars were honored before the game. The home team seemed to feed off the emotion right from the opening tip, exploding for 25 points in the first quarter, stunning Calhoun, and sending them to a 50-27 loss. Both teams finished with a 9-5 conference record, and both are headed for the postseason.

Kennedy is heading there with a bit more momentum. After scoring only two points in the first quarter of their loss to Great Neck South last week, the Cougars were determined to change things, and raced out to a 7-0 lead. Will Colon and Joey Karo each hit a pair of threes, with Karo's second coming at the buzzer, punctuating the 25-point quarter, and leaving Calhoun down by 17.

The Colts never knew what hit them, and couldn't keep up score for score, as the rim seemed a bit small for the visitors. Calhoun managed only single digits in each period.

"There have been games where we've attacked zone defenses very well," said Jay Kreutzberger, Colts coach.  "Tonight we were very tentative; we were not in attack mode. We never got it going."

Being down double digits after eight minutes of play would stun any team.  So exactly what happened to Calhoun once play began?

"We didn't play any defense," Kreutzberger said point blank.  "At all."

Down 31-13 at the half, Calhoun gave their raucous cheering section faint hope early in the third, when Tom Joannou scored and drew the foul, and completed the three-point play. There would be no miracle comeback on this night, as too many turnovers, and too many missed free throws doused any hope Calhoun may have had of making things interesting in the second half.

"[We] just weren't getting at the shooters, they were making shots, we couldn't make anything," said Andrew Lief, Colts forward.

John Wigand, Chad Fuschillo, and Kevin Hiss tied for the team lead with five points each. Colon led Kennedy with ten, and Brian O'Gorman added eight.

Calhoun needs to put the loss behind them, as playoff schedules are set to be finalized this week. Perhaps a rematch with the Cougars is in the cards.  If it is, Calhoun will need to show their hand defensively a bit earlier next time.