Sunday, February 21, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Shondel Stewart had 38 points and 10 rebounds for Kennedy, which erased a 7-point, fourth quarter deficit to down Wayne Valley, 72-64, in overtime in the Passaic County semifinals.

PATERSON – Even facing a deficit on their home court, Paterson Kennedy’s Dawan Lighty was never nervous and with good reason. Throughout this season, the Knights have been in numerous close games and have come out on both the winning and the losing ends of them. But that has made the Knights battle-tested and prepared to weather any storm. Lighty and his teammates would need all that experience in yesterday’s Passaic County Semifinals against a gritty Wayne Valley team that gave them all they could handle.

Kennedy battled back from a seven-point deficit with less than four minutes to play and Lighty hit 7 of 8 free-throws in overtime as the second-seeded Knights earned a rematch in the Passaic County Final with a 72-64 semifinal win over sixth-seeded Wayne Valley at Paterson Kennedy High School.

“We knew this wasn’t going to be easy, Wayne Valley really took it to us at times,” said Lighty. “No matter what the score was, we couldn’t get rattled. We just had to keep playing our game and forcing them to make a mistake.”

Shondel Stewart has been a prolific scorer all season and carried the Knights for the better part of three quarters. He hit a three-pointer late to give the Knights a 15-9 lead after one quarter of play. Wayne Valley battled back to within one, only to see Stewart hit a contested 30-footer at the halftime buzzer to give Kennedy a 30-26 lead going into the locker room.

Wayne Valley closed in on the lead on several occasions, finally grabbing it on a Nick Siljee three-pointer during an 8-0, third-quarter burst. The game was tied when there was another buzzer-beater. This time is was by Wayne Valley’s Mike Herasimchuk, whose tip-in put the Indians ahead 46-44 heading into the fourth quarter.

Wayne Valley point guard Jason Rosenberg had with 13 points and a game-high 11 assists.

Wayne Valley opened their lead behind the outstanding play of point guard Jason Rosenberg. Twice he ran nearly a minute off of the clock, drew the defense in, then found teammates for wide-open layups. The latter by Herasimchuk gave Wayne Valley a 54-47 lead with 3:58 to play.

But the Knights refused to quit on their home floor. Lighty was virtually non-existent in the first half, but came up big time after time in the second half and the overtime. He drove to his left and laid it in to cut the Indians’ lead down to one, 58-57, with just 34 seconds to play. Then things got interesting and controversial.

On the ensuing possession, Wayne Valley was whistled for what appeared to be a quick five-second violation. Stewart struggled at the foul line throughout the fourth quarter and overtime periods, but hit one of two from the line on the following possessions to tie the game at 58.

Wayne Valley was once again whistled for a quick five-second violation with 14 seconds to play and Lighty missed a shot at the buzzer with the two teams heading for overtime.

“I thought both of those five-second calls were quick and shouldn’t have been called,” said Wayne Valley head coach Joe Leicht. “But give Kennedy the credit; they continued to battle every single possession on both ends of the floor. I thought we took a couple of ill-advised shots late and it cost us. If you told me that we would have a seven-point lead and the ball with less than four minutes to play, I’d be pretty confident that we’re going to win the game, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

With Wayne Valley in the double-bonus and both of its starting guards saddled with four fouls, Lighty had the green light to slash to the basket. With Rosenberg and Tom Larranaga unable to foul him, he would got to the basket and eventually was underneath the basket.

Kennedy will face undefeated and two-time defending champ Paterson Catholic in Saturday's county final.

Lighty hit four straight free-throws to bump the Knights’ lead up to six. Larranaga hit a deep three-pointer to cut that lead in half, 64-61, but the Indians never got any closer. The Knight make a return trip to the Passaic County Final where they lost last year to two-time defending champion Paterson Catholic.

“I knew what my job was in the fourth quarter and overtime, I just had to go out and do it,” said Lighty, who 23 of his 26 points after halftime. “We were in the double-bonus and they were in foul trouble. So that made me even more aggressive than I would be normally and I was able to get to the foul line a lot.”

Stewart led all players with 38 points and 10 rebounds for Kennedy (17-4). Lighty added 26, including 14 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Siljee had 23 points, eight rebounds, and four assists for Wayne Valley (15-8). Rosenberg had another solid performance with 13 points and a game-high 11 assists. Herasimchuk and Larranaga added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Kennedy now gets another shot at New Jersey’s only undefeated team and overwhelming favorite Paterson Catholic, but the Knights feel they have a puncher’s chance and plan to let it all hang out.

“After we lost to them last year, we have been playing hard all year to try and get another shot at them,” said Stewart. “We’ve been hungry all year and now it’s our chance to see what we can do against them. Paterson Catholic is a great team, everyone knows that. They are one of the best teams in the country. But we’re a pretty good team too and we have nothing to lose so it should be fun.”

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